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WORK 


GIFT 
R.D.LI* 

OF 

Submitted  to  Bxaminatl 

- — BY 

WHIT4KER  &  RAY  CO. 


essons   in    Lfcmquaqe 

POP    pifth    and    @)btth    (^jradei 


Work 


BY 


ISABEL  FRAZEE 


SAN    FRANCISCO: 

THE  WHITAKER  &.  RAY  Co. 

INCORPORATED 
1901 


EDUCATION  DEFT. 


COPYRIGHT    1900 

BY 

THE  WHITAKER  &.  RAY  Co. 


.  .  INTRODUCTION  .  . 


This  outline  of  Language  Study  is  an  outgrowth  of  many 
years'  teaching  in  the  Grammar  Schools.  It  is  a  compila- 
tion of  lessons  suitable  for  Fifth  and  Sixth  Grades. 

For  the  work,  material  has  been  adapted  from  whatever 
source  has  been  found  best  suited  to  meet  the  needs  of  those 
classes. 

I  am  especially  indebted  to  the  works  of  Barrett  Wendell, 
Herrick  and  Damon,  and  Scott  and  Denney  for  suggestions 
in  Word  and  Paragraph  Study. 

The  lessons  in  Word  Study  and  Paragraph  Structure  have 
brought  forth  valuable  results,  and  have  been  most  helpful 
in  overcoming  habits  of  slipshod  composition. 

At  first  it  was  a  question  whether  this  plan  of  study,  so 
successful  in  the  hands  of  Wendell  and  of  Scott  and  Denney 
in  their  work  with  advanced  students,  could  be  successfully 
used  with  children  so  young  as  those  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth 


575770 


4 

Grades,  but,  following  the  creed  that  only  the  best  is  good 
enough  for  children,  this  work  has  been  adapted  to  these 
classes  with  most  satisfactory  results. 

ISABEL  FRAZEE. 


.  .  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  .  . 


Introduction  ..........................  3 

CHAPTER  I—  SENTENCES. 

1.  Suggestion  to  teachers  ...................  n 

2.  Sentence-making  words    ......   .   .   .   .........  12 

CHAPTER  II—  PUNCTUATION. 

1.  Rules  for  comma  : 

(a)  Attention  words  ...................  14 

(b)  Words  of  address  ..................  14 

(c)  Words  of  a  series    ......    ............  16 

(d)  Words  explanatory  .................  17 

(e)  Short  clauses   ....................  18 

(f  )     Words  not  essential  .................  19 

(g)    Clauses  out  of  order  .................  20 

(h)     Direct  quotations  ..................  21 

(i)     Exercises     .....................  21 

2.  Rules  for  period  : 

(a)  Sentences,   abbreviations,   numerals,  headings,  signa- 

tures .....    .....       ............  23 

(b)  Exercises  ............    ..........  23 

3.  Interrogation  point  .....................  23 

4.  Rules  for  capitals  : 

(a)  Proper  names  ................    ....  24 

(b)  Poetry,  I,  sentences  .................  24 

(c)  Quotations,  Deity,  officials  ..............  24 

(d)  Titles  ............    ,   ...........  25 

(e)  Animals  personified  .....   .    ...........  25 

5.  Use  of  the  apostrophe  .......    .   ......       ....  25 


6  Table  of  Contents. 

CHAPTER  III— SINGULARS  AND 

1.  Exercises  in  use  of  singulars  and  plurals 26 

2.  Lists  of  words  where  the  plural  is  formed  by  adding  s,  by 

adding  es,  or  by  change  of  word 28 

CHAPTER  IV— POSSESSIVES. 

1.  Development  of  possessives 32 

2.  Exercises  in  the  use  of  possessives 33 

CHAPTER  V— CORRECT  USE. 

1.  Correct  use  : 

(a)  that,  those,  this,  these 36 

(b)  doesn't,  don't 37 

(c)  like,  love 38 

(d)  teach,  learn ;  may,  can 39 

(e)  lie,  lay ;  sit,  set 40 

(f)  no,  any ;  them,  those  ;  I,  me 41 

2.  Errors  to  be  avoided ^ 42 

CHAPTER  VI— LETTERS. 

1.  Rules  for  letters 45 

2.  Rules    for  envelopes 46 

3.  Headings 48 

4.  Salutations 49 

5.  Signatures 51 

6.  Forms 52 

7.  Examples 53 

8.  Exercises .  57 

CHAPTER  VII— DICTATION. 

1.  Suggestions 59 

2.  Exercises  for  dictation  .    .    . „ 59 


Table  of  Contents.  7 

CHAPTER  VIII— DICTIONARY  WORK. 

1.  Parts  of  the  dictionary 68 

2.  Need  of  the  study  of  the  dictionary 68 

3.  Study  of  synonyms 68 

4.  How  to  choose  the  right  definition 70 

5.  Exercises  in  marking  the  different  sounds  of  a,  e,  i,  o,  u  and  y  71 

CHAPTER  IX— WORDS. 

1.  Suggestions  for  enlarging  a  vocabulary 78 

2.  Misuse  of  words — inaccuracies  and  extravagances 80 

3.  The  suggestive  value  of  words 82 

CHAPTER  X— THE  PARAGRAPH. 

1.  Rules  governing  the  construction  of  paragraphs 90 

2.  Correct  arrangement  of  sentences .  91 

3.  Building  paragraphs  from  topic  sentences 92 

4.  Condensing  paragraphs  to  the  topic  sentence 96 

5.  Topic  sentences  for  expansion 99 

CHAPTER  XI— WRITTEN  COMPOSITION. 

1.  Subject  matter 102 

2.  Exercises  to  develop  imagination  : 

(a)  "TentoleenaLand"  (J.  W.  Riley) 103 

(b)  "Mother  Goose'* 107 

(c)  Suggestive   Stories 107 

3.  Stories   for  reproduction  : 

(a)  "  Singing  Lesson  "  (Jean  Ingelow) 109 

(b)  "  What  the  Moon  Saw,  "parts  I,  II  and  III 'in 

(c)  "Songs  of  Seven"  (Jean  Ingelow) 115 

(d)  "Home  and  Fireside." 116 

(e)  "Enoch   Arden"    (Tennyson) 118 

(f )  "The  Ride  from  Ghent  to  Aix  "  (Robert  Browning)  .   .  119 

(g)  Poem          ) 

(h)     Fable           Y to    be  expanded 122 

(i)    Quotations } 


8  Table  of  Contents, 

CHAPTER  XII— COMPOSITION— Continued. 

(a)  "Sleeping  Beauty,"  selected  from  Grimm  and  Ten- 

nyson       125 

T  Prometheus.  ^ 

(b)  j  Epimetheus.  >• 137 

C  Pandora.        ) 

Outlines 146 

A  list  of  books  for  children 150 


LESSONS  IN  LANGUAGE  WORK. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SENTENCES. 

SUGGESTION  TO  TEACHERS. 

Group  the  words  of  a  sentence  regardless  of  their  use  in 
the  sentence.  Give  the  words  to  the  class,  and  ask  them  to 
arrange  them  as  a  sentence.  Example  :  There  grow  the 
blossoms,  beautiful,  orange,  fragrant.  Arranged  :  The  beau- 
tiful, fragrant  orange  blossoms  grow  there. 

When  the  children  succeed  in  forming  this  sentence,  tell 
them  to  omit  the  word  beautiful,  and  have  them  then  read  the 
sentence.  Omit  in  turn  fragrant,  the  and  there.  In  each  case 
they  will  find  a  complete  thought  may  be  expressed  without 
the  use  of  these  words.  These  words  add  to  the  thought  by 
describing  the  blossom.  Now  omit  the  word  grow,  and  then 
try  to  read  the  sentence.  They  will  find  that  a  complete 
thought  cannot  be  expressed  without  this  word.  They  will 
realize  that  grow  is  the  sentence-making  word.  Next  have 
the  word  blossoms  omitted.  They  will  see  this  word  is,  also, 
essential,  and  that  a  sentence  would  be  made  if  it  consisted  of 
these  two  words — Blossoms  grow. 


12  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

They  will  see  that  the  word  blossoms*  names  the  thing  of 
which  we  are  talking,  and  that  grow  expresses  the  idea  we 
wish  to  tell  regarding  the  blossoms.  The  other  words  act  as 
modifiers. 


Groups  from  which  to  form  sentences  : 

1.  pretty  that  girl  sang  little. 

2.  old  poor  died  lame  the  man. 

3.  jolly  Dick  my  last  came  night  cousin. 

4.  talks  my  Paris  lovely  doll  new. 

5.  noble  my  good  died  dog  yesterday. 

6.  Tom's  ran  little  away  donkey  gray. 

7.  well  ding  bell  the  dong  pussy's  in. 

8.  in  put  who  her?     Green  Tommy  little. 

9.  pulled  who  out  Stout  ?     her  Tommy  little. 
10.  you  read  have  Wonderland  in  Alice  ever  ? 

In  the  following  sentences,  which  word  names  the  subject 
about  which  the  thought  is  expressed  ?  Which  word  or  words 
say  something  about  the  subject  ? 

i.  One  day  Jupiter  had  a  very  bad  headache.  He 
could  not  stand  the  pain.  Vulcan  brought  his  great 
sledge-hammer.  He  split  open  Jupiter's  skull.  Out 
came  a  fine,  full  grown  goddess.  She  was  Minerva. 
She  was  called  the  goddess  of  wisdom. 


Sentences.  13 

2.  "  First  the  fish  must  be  caught. 

That  is  easy.     A  baby  could  have  caught  it. 

Next  the  fish  must  be  bought. 

That  is  easy.     A  penny  could  have  bought  it." 

3.  A  man  was  driving  a  heavy  cart.     The  wheels 
stuck  fast  in  the  miry  lane.     He  did  not  make  the 
least  effort  for  himself.     He  dropped  on  his  knees, 
and  begged  Hercules  to  come  and  help  him. 

Hercules  said,  "  You  are  a  lazy  fellow.  Get  up 
and  stir  yourself.  Whip  your  horses  stoutly,  and 
put  your  shoulder  to  the  wheel.  '  Heaven  helps 
those  who  help  themselves.'  " 

"  A    NEEDLE   AND   THREAD." 

4.  "  Old  Mother  Twichett  had  but  one  eye. 

She  had  a  long  tail  which  she  let  fly. 
And  every  time  she  went  through  a  gap, 
A  bit  of  her  tail  she  left  in  a  trap." 

Write  a  sentence  telling  the  name  of  your  favorite  flower, 
another  telling  your  favorite  color  for  a  dress.  Underline  the 
sentence-making  words. 

Make  a  statement  about  the  bay  and  a  boat.  Ask  a  ques- 
tion about  them,  express  a  command,  and  an  exclamation. 
Which  are  the  sentence-making  words  ? 

Write  a  sentence  asking  permission  to  go  down  town.  What 
kind  of  a  word  is  the  first  word  of  the  sentence  ?  How  do 
the  asking  and  telling  sentences  differ? 


CHAPTER  II. 
PUNCTUATION. 

RUI,ES   FOR   COMMAS. 


I.  Attention  words  are  set  off  from  the  rest  of  the  sen- 
tence by  commas,  as  : 

1.  John,  bring  me  your  book. 

2.  Mistress  Mary,  quite  contrary, 
How  does  your  garden  grow  ? 

3.  Come,  my  children,  come  away  ; 
For  the  sun  shines  bright  to-day  ; 
Little  children,  come  with  me, 
Birds  and  brooks  and  flowers  to  see. 

4.  "  Old  woman,  old  woman,  old  woman,"  said  I, 
"  Whither,  ah  whither,  ah  whither  so  high  ?" 

5.  Little  Boy  Blue,  come  blow  your  horn. 

II.  Point  out  all  the  words  independent  by  address. 

i.  "Come,  come,"  said  the  Petrels,  "you  lazy, 
greedy  lubbers,  this  young  gentleman  is 
going  to  Mother  Carey." 

"  Come  along,  lads,"  he  said  to  the  rest,  "  and 
give  this  little  chap  a  cast  over  the  pack 
for  Mother  Carey's  sake." 

—  Water  Babies. 

H 


Punctuation .  1 5 

2.  "  Sisters,  I  hear  a  man's  voice,  but  I  see  no 

man,"  said  the  old  crone. 

3.  I  once  had  a  sweet  little  doll,  dears, 
The  prettiest  doll  in  the  world  ; 

Her  cheeks  were  so  red  and  so  white,  dears, 

And  her  hair  was  so  charmingly  curled. 

But  I  lost  my  poor  little  doll,  dears, 

As  I  played  in  the  heath  one  day ; 

And  I  cried  for  her  more  than  a  week,  dears, 

But  I  never  could  find  where  she  lay. 

I  found  my  poor  little  doll,  dears, 
As  I  played  in  the  heath  one  day ; 
Folks  say  she  is  terribly  changed,  dears, 
For  her  paint  is  all  washed  away, 
And  her  arms  trodden  off  by  the  cows,  dears, 
And  her  hair  not  the  least  bit  curled : 
Yet  for  old  sake's  sake,  she  is  still,  dears, 
The  prettiest  doll  in  the  world. 

— KlNGSI,EY. 

4.  "  Miranda,"  said  Prospero,  "  tell  me  what  you 

are  looking  at  yonder." 
"  O  father,"  said  Miranda,  u  surely  that  is  a 

spirit." 
"No,  girl,"  answered  her  father,  "it  eats  and 

sleeps,  and  has  sense  as  we  have." 

—SHAKESPEARE. 


1 6  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

III.  When  a  series  of  words  is  used  in  a  sentence,  the 
words  are  separated  by  commas  in  place  of  the  connective 
and. 

1.  Dear,  happy,  generous,   little  Tom,   how  our 
hearts  shall  miss  you ! 

2.  The  old  man  came  slowly  down  the  road  call- 
ing, "bananas,  peaches,  pears,  watermelons  and  red, 
ripe  strawberries." 

3.  Mary,  get  your  thimble,  needle,  thread,  scis- 
sors and  cloth,  and  I  shall  teach  you  how  to  make 
your  doll  a  cloak. 

4.  When  you  go  fishing,  you  want  to  be  sure  to 
have  plenty  of  good  bait,  a  long  stout  pole,  a  strong 
line,  and  fish  waiting  to  bite. 

5.  "  Of  all  the  birds  that  fly  the  air 

The  black,  the  blue,  the  red, 

Of  all  the  cakes  that  mother  bakes, 

Give  me  the  gingerbread." 

6.  And  out  flew  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to, 
all  the  children  of  the  four  great  bogies, — Self-will, 
Ignorance,  Fear  and  Dirt ;  and,  worst  of  all,  Naughty 
Boys   and   Girls :    but   one   thing   remained     x  fhe 
bottom  of  the  box,  and  that  was  Hope. 


Punctuation.  17 

7.     Little  Indian,  Sioux  or  Crow, 
Little  frosty  Eskimo, 
Little  Turk  or  Japanee, 

Oh,  don't  you  wish  that  you  were  me? 

—ROBERT  L.  STEVENSON. 

IV.  Two  or  more  words  used  to  explain  names,  and 
meaning  the  same  thing  as  the  name  they  explain,  are  set  off 
by  commas,  as, 

1.  Holmes,  our  great  poet,  is  dead. 

2.  "And  the  Lord,  your  husband,"  asked  Psyche's 
sister,  the  eldest  princess,  "  is  he  kind  and  good?" 

3.  It  is  Acrisius,  King  of  Argus,  whom  your  un- 
lucky quoit  has  killed. 

4.  Minerva,  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  was  not  so 
beautiful  as  Venus,  the  goddess  of  beauty,  but  she 
was  very  brave. 

5.  Shylock,  the  Jew,  lived  at  Venice.     He  was  a 
money  lender,  a  usurer,  who  became  very  rich.     He 
was    very    much     disliked    by    Antonio,    a   young 
merchant  of  Venice. 

Whenever  Antonio,  the  kind-hearted  merchant, 
met  Shylock,  the  money  lender,  he  would  reproach 
him  for  his  hard  dealings,  which  made  the  Jew  very 
ang 

— Merchant  of  Venice. 
Mary  Lamb's  Tales  of  Shakespeare. 


1 8  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

6.  Then    Queen    Gulnare,   the    King's    mother, 
went  to  King  Saleh,  her  brother,  and  said  to  him, 
u  The  King,  your  nephew,    my  dear   son,  is  in  the 
City  of  Enchantment  and  we  must  go  and  deliver 

him."  —Arabian  Nights. 

7.  So  when  the   fairy,    Mrs.    Bedonebyasyoudid, 
came  next,  Tom  asked  her  why  he  could  not  go  home 
with  Miss  Ella,  the  beautiful  little  girl  the  fairy  had 
brought. 

"  Little  boys  who  are  only  fit  to  play  with  sea- 
beasts  cannot  go  there,"  she  said. 

When  the  fairy,  Mrs.  Doasyouwouldbedoneby, 
came,  Tom  asked  her,  hoping  to  receive  a  different 
answer. 

But  she  told  him  just  what  her  sister,  Mrs.  Bedone- 
byasyoudid, had  told  him.  —Water  Babies. 

V.  Short  clauses  in  a  sentence  are  generally  separated  by 
commas,  as : 

1.  The  flowers  looked  up  and  greeted  Little  Nell, 
and  the  birds  sang  with  joy,  because  she  had  come. 

2.  The  frost  is  here, 
And  fuel  is  dear, 
And  woods  are  sear, 
And  fires  burn  clear, 
And  frost  is  here, 

And  has  bitten  the  heel  of  the  going  year. 

— TENNYSON. 


Punctuation.  19 

3.  "  My  dearest  Jenny  Wren, 

If  you  will  but  be  mine, 
You  shall  dine  on  cherry  pie, 
And  drink  nice  currant  wine." 

4.  The  cock  is  crowing, 
The  stream  is  flowing, 
The  small  birds  twitter, 
The  lake  doth  glitter, 

The  green  field  sleeps  in  the  sun. 

— WORDSWORTH. 

VI.  When  words  are  used  in  a  sentence  in  such  a  way 
that  they  break  the  connection  they  should  be  set  off  by 
commas. 

1.  Before  long,  however,  the  ungrateful  giant  be- 
came impatient  to  carry  out  his  plans,  and  the  chance 
soon  came. 

2.  Instead  of  that,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  he  would 
meddle  with  the  creatures,  all  but  the  water  snakes, 
for  they  would  stand  no  nonsense. 

3.  And  by  that  time   she  was  so  tired  that  she 
was  glad  to  stop ;  and,  indeed,  she  had   done  a  very 
good  day's  work. 

4.  And  all  this  happens,  as  I  said,  because  it  is  a 
far-off  world,  and  things  often  happen  there  as  they 
do  not  happen  here. 


2O  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

5.  "And,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  my  precious  little 
folks,"  quoth  King  Midas,  u  ever  since  that  morning 
I  have  hated  the  very  sight  of  gold." 

VII.  A  clause,  out  of  its  natural  order,  is  separated  from 
the  rest  of  the  sentence  by  a  comma,  as : 

1.  When  I  heard  her  speak,  I  was  charmed  with 
her  voice. 

2.  As  soon  as  his  mother  left  him,  he  took  out 
his  lamp  and  rubbed  it. 

3.  And  when  he  awoke,  she  was  telling  the  chil- 
dren a  story. 

4.  When  the  two  sisters  returned  from  the  ball, 
Cinderella  asked  if  the  fine  lady  had  been  there. 

5.  As   soon  as   little   Margery  got   up  the  next 
morning,  she  ran  all  round  the  village,  crying  for 
her  brother. 

VIII.  When  words  are  omitted  a  comma  takes  the  place 
of  the  omitted  word,  as  : 

125  Clark  St., 

Chicago,  111., 

Feb.  10,  1895. 
For: 

125  Clark  St. 

In  Chicago  in  Illinois 

On  Feb.  10  in  1895. 

Mary,  Harry  and  John  came  to  our  house. 


Punctuation.  21 

For  further  examples,  see  work  in  ' '  Series. ' ' 

IX.    A  comma  goes  before  a  direct  quotation,  as  : 

1.  Aladdin  then  showed  her  the  lamp,  and  said, 
u  Mother,  I  will  take  this  lamp  and  sell  it  to  buy  us 
food." 

2.  Jack  said,  "  Now,  mother,  I  have  brought  you 
home  that  which  will  speedily  make  us  rich." 

3.  Ulysses   made   answer,   "  My  men  have  done 
this  ill  mischief  to  me ;  they  did  it  while  I  slept." 

4.  She  said,  "  I  thank  you,  gentle  sir, 
For  what  you've  pleased  to  say, 
And  bidding  you  good  morning  now, 
I'll  call  another  day." 

5.  The  Linnet,  being  bridesmaid, 
Walked  by  Jenny's  side ; 
And,  as  she  was  a-walking, 
Said,  "  Upon  my  word, 

I  think  that  your  Cock  Robin 
Is  a  very  pretty  bird." 

Punctuate  and  tell  why. 
Harry  however  came  home  last  night 
Pansy  Isabelle  Morgans  lovely  doll  has  curly  hair 
Rosa  and  Julia  gave  a  party   and  nearly  all  the 
class  were  invited 


22  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

At  the  fair  which  was  given  for  the  Day  Nursery 
they  sold  paper  dolls  pictures  frames  little  doilies  and 
paper  flowers 

Oh  see  that  lovely  green  and  red  bug 

When  I  asked  Harold  to  come  over  and  see  the 
monkey  he  said  I  don't  want  to  see  the  snapping 
cross  thing  he  tried  to  bite  me  yesterday 

John  will  you  please  lend  me  your  book 

You  are  old  Father  William  the  young  man  said 

And  your  hair  has  become  very  white 

And  yet  you  incessantly  stand  on  your  head 

Do  you  think  at  your  age  it  is  right 

— CARROW,. 


Oh  you  were  a  lucky  lad 
Just  as  good  as  you  were  bad 
And  the  host  of  friends  you  had 
Charlie  Tom  and  Dick  and  Dan 
And  the  old  school  teacher  too 
Though  he  often  censured  you 
And  the  girl  in  pink  and  blue 
Old  Man 

— Ril,EY. 


Punctuation.  23 

RULES  FOR  THE  PERIOD. 

Every  sentence  not  interrogative  or  exclamatory  must  be 
followed  by  a  period. 

A  period  is  used  after  every  abbreviation,  as  : 

Mr.  Chas.  Smith ;    Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Roman  numerals,  headings  and  signatures  must  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  period,  as  : 

Book  III.;  Robinson  Crusoe;  Prof.  D.  B.  Dean. 

Punctuate. 

John  is  a  prominent  M  D  of  Boston  Mass 

Homer's  Iliad  Book  V  tells  of  the  war  between  Mars 
and  Diomed 

R  T  Brown  U  S  Geologist  lived  at  Washington 
D  C 

Prof  J  R  Rossmore  LL  D  of  Harvard  College  U 
S  of  America  lectured  before  the  Y  M  C  A  of 
Edinburgh  Scotland 

INTERROGATION   POINT. 

Every  sentence  asking  a  question  should  end  with  an  in- 
terrogation point. 

When  the  question  of  another  is  quoted  the  interrogation 
point  should  follow  the  direct  quotation.  Example  : 

u  What  do  you  say  ?"  cried  the  General. 


24  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

When  the  question  is  only  implied,  this  point  should  not 
be  used.  Example  : 

The  Judge  asked  the  witness  if  he  believed  the 
man  to  be  guilty. 

CAPlTAIvS. 

Write  a  sentence  containing  the  names  of  two  of  your  play- 
mates. Tell  how  many  capital  letters  your  sentence  contains. 

Write  the  names  of  the  place  in  which  you  live,  the  county 
and  state.  How  must  the  first  letter  of  each  be  written  ? 

Write  a  stanza  of  poetry  consisting  of  four  lines.  How 
must  the  first  letter  beginning  each  line  be  written  ? 

Write  the  title  of  some  story.  How  must  all  the  important 
words  in  the  title  be  written  ? 

When  the  letter  /  is  used  to  represent  a  person,  how  must  it 
be  written  ? 

The  first  word  of  every  sentence  must  begin  with  a  capital 
letter. 

The  first  word  of  every  line  of  poetry  should  begin  with  a 
capital  letter. 

When  the  letter  /  is  used  to  represent  a  person  it  must  be 
written  a  capital. 

Every  direct  quotation  must  begin  with  a  capital,  as: 
May  says,  "  Tell  Harry  we  are  waiting  for  him." 

Every  proper  name  must  begin  with  a  capital,  as  :  Julia, 
San  Diego,  Mr.  Smith. 

All  book  headings,  etc.,  must  have  the  important  words 
begin  with  capitals,  as:  "  The  Jungle  Book,"  "  Rab  and 
His  Friends." 

All  names  of  the  Deity  must  begin  with  a  capital,  as : 
God,  Jehovah. 


Punctuation.  25 

CAPITALS   AND   APOSTROPHES. 

The  names  of  the  months,  the  days  of  the  week,  and  all 
holidays  should  begin  with  capitals. 

Titles  of  nobility  and  of  high  office,  when  used  to  name 
particular  persons,  are  capitalized,  as :  the  Karl  of  Fife,  the 
Mayor  of  San  Francisco,  the  Judge  replied,  the  President 
presided. 

The  names  of  all  animals  and  things  personified  should 
begin  with  capitals,  as :  Thou,  too,  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State  ! 
The  Wolf  said,- 

The  apostrophe  is  used  to  denote  the  omission  of  letters  and 
sometimes  of  figures,  as  :  I've  for  I  have  ;  we'll  for  we  will ;  'tis 
for  it  is  ;  It  was  in  '93  ;  It  was  in  1863,  '64  and  '65. 

The  apostrophe  denotes  possession  and  with  an  s  denotes 
the  plural  of  letters,  figures  and  signs,  as  :  dot  your  i's,  cross 
your  t's,  and  mind  your  p's  and  q's;  make  your  2*s 
better,  and  take  out  the  e's. 


CHAPTER  III. 
SINGULARS  AND  PLURALS. 

A  singular  noun  names  one  person  or  thing. 

A  plural  noun  names  more  than  one  person  or  thing. 

In  the  following  selection  find  five  nouns  whose  plurals  are 
formed  by  adding  s  to  the  singular,  three  where  es  is  added, 
and  one  where  the  word  is  changed.  Notice  carefully  these 
different  forms,  and  give  other  examples. 

Alice  looked  at  the  smaller  of  the  two  boxes  with 
great  curiosity. 

"  I  see  you  admiring  my  little  box,"  the  knight 
said  in  a  friendly  tone.  u  It's  my  own  invention  to 
keep  clothes  and  sandwiches  in.  You  see,  I  carry  it 
upside  down,  so  that  the  rain  can't  get  in." 

"But  the  things  can  get  out,"  Alice  gently  re- 
marked. "  Do  you  know  the  lid  is  open?" 

"I  didn't  know  it,"  the  knight  said,  a  shade  of 
vexation  passing  over  his  face.  "Then  all  the  things 
must  have  fallen  out,  and  the  box  is  no  use  without 
them." 

He  unfastened  it  as  he  spoke,  and  was  just  going 
to  throw  it  into  the  bushes,  when  a  sudden  thought 
seemed  to  strike  him,  and  he  went  to  a  grove  of  trees, 
and  hung  it  carefully  on  a  tree.  "  Can  you  guess 
why  I  did  that?"  he  said  to  Alice.  She  shook  her 

head. 

26 


Singulars  and  Plurals.  27 

"  In  hopes  some  bees  may  make  nests  in  it — then 
I  should  get  the  honey." 

"  But  you've  got  a  beehive,  or  something  like  one, 
fastened  to  the  saddle, "  said  Alice. 

"  Yes,  'tis  a  very  good  beehive,"  said  the  Knight  in 
a  discontented  tone,  "  one  of  the  best  kind,  but  not  a 
single  bee  has  come  near  it  yet.  And  the  other 
thing  is  a  mousetrap.  I  suppose  the  mice  keep  the 
bees  out,  or  the  bees  keep  the  mice  out,  I  don't  know 
which." 

"I  was  wondering  what  the  mousetrap  was  for," 
said  Alice.  "It  isn't  very  likely  there  would  be 
any  mice  on  the  horse's  back." 

"  Not  very  likely,  perhaps,"  said  the  Knight,  "  but 
if  they  do  come,  I  don't  choose  to  have  them  running 
all  about.  You  see,"  he  went  on  after  a  pause,  "  it's 
as  well  to  be  provided  for  everything." 

How  are  the  plurals  of  sheep,  knife  and  wolf  formed? 
THE  WOLF  IN  SHEEP'S  CLOTHING. 

A  wolf,  knowing  that  sheep  are  afraid  of  wolves, 
once  upon  a  time  resolved  to  disguise  himself,  think- 
ing that  he  should  thus  gain  an  easier  livelihood. 
Having,  therefore,  clothed  himself  in  a  sheep's  skin, 
he  contrived  to  get  among  a  flock  of  sheep,  and  feed 
along  with  them,  so  that  even  the  shepherd  was 
deceived  by  the  imposture.  When  night  came  on, 


28  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

and  the  fold  was  closed,  the  wolf  was  shut  up  with 
the  sheep,  and  the  door  was  made  fast.  But  the 
shepherd,  wanting  something  for  his  supper,  and 
going  in  to  get  a  sheep,  mistook  the  wolf  for  one  of 
them,  and,  taking  a  sharp  knife  from  a  case  of  knives, 

killed  him  on  the  spot. 

— HANS  CHRISTIAN  ANDERSEN. 

Nouns  that  form  their  plurals  by  adding  s. 


cat 

flower 

chair 

bed 

mill 

camel 

paper 

canal 

dog 

boat 

pencil 

book 

cow 

pen 

school 

ruler 

desk 

hat 

bird 

table 

Nouns  that  form  their  plurals  by  adding  es. 


bench 

sandwich 

bunch 

box 
gas 
church 

class 
march 
match 

glass 
patch 
lunch 

fox 

ditch 

torch 

The  plurals  of  some  nouns  are  formed  irregularly. 

man  mouse 

tooth  foot 

goose  child 

woman  ox 


Singulars  and  Plurals.  29 

Nouns  ending  in  /which  add  s  to  form  the  plural, 
proof  muff  gulf 

serf  puff  dwarf 

mastiff  roof  flagstaff 

cuff  handkerchief  scarf 

reef  hoof  chief 

Nouns  ending  in  /or  fe  which  change  the  /or  fe  to  vy  and 
add  s  or  es  to  form  the  plural. 

calf  wife  life 

knife  wolf  loaf 

leaf  thief  shelf 

elf  sheaf  beef 

Nouns  ending  in  y  which  change  the  y  to  z",  and  add  es  to 
form  the  plural. 

lady  city  gallery 

body  county  cherry 

candy  navy  enemy 

pony  daisy  copy 

fly  duty  country 

ferry  JurY  lily 

Nouns  ending  in  y  which  add  s  to  form  the  plural : 
valley  donkey  essay 

turkey  alley  kidney 

journey  pulley  key 

toy  boy  day 


30  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Nouns  that  are  alike  in  both  singular  and  plural : 
sheep  grouse  bellows          series 

deer  swine  fish  gross 

trout  mackerel      quail  heathen 

salmon         cannon         species 

Nouns  ending  in  o  which  form  their  plural  by  adding  s  : 
piano  memento     cuckoo  ratio 

solo  folio  trio  cameo 

Nouns  ending  in  o  which  form  their  plural  by  adding  es  : 
cargo  motto  tomato  hero 

echo  potato          buffalo 

Some  nouns  are  always  plural  in  form,  as  : 

breeches      scales  scissors          shears 

tongs  trousers       pincers 

Some  nouns  plural  in  form  are  usually  treated  as  singular 
nouns,  as  : 

gallows    news    wages    mathematics    physics    ethics 
The  girl  gave  me  a  rose. 

Write  the  sentence  using  the  plural  form  of  the  word  rose. 
May  I  have  that  cherry  ? 

Write  the  sentence   using   the  plural   form  of  the  word 
cherry. 

What  changes  did  you  make  in  the  sentence  ? 


Singulars  and  Plurals.  31 

Use  the  plurals  of  the  following  nouns  in  sentences  : 

Child,  hero,  calico,  woman,  foot,  mouse,  brother, 
knife,  fly,  loaf,  country,  self,  potato,  cupful,  sister-in- 
law,  sheep,  deer. 

Write  five  nouus  that  are  always  plural,  as  shears. 
Write  five  nouns  that  have  the  plural  form,  but  are  used  in 
the  singular,  as  news. 

Use  correctly  in  sentences  the  following  nouns  : 
Scissors,   wages,   gallows,   news,   ashes,    measles, 
bread. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
POSSESSIVES. 

Now  the  King's  son  gave  a  ball,  and  invited  all  the 
rich  and  grand  folks.  Cinderella's  two  sisters  were 
to  go  to  the  ball. 

Here  was  more  work  for  Cinderella's  busy  hands. 
*She  must  starch  and  iron  the  young  ladies'  ruffles 
and  help  prepare  her  sisters'  beautiful  gowns. 

At  last  the  evening  came,  and  the  young  ladies' 
coach  arrived.  When  they  were  gone  Cinderella  sat 
down  by  the  fire  and  wept.  All  at  once  she  heard 
her  godmother's  voice : 

"  Why  are  my  little  girl's  tears  falling?"  she  asked. 

"  I  wish  to  go  to  the  Prince's  ball,"  cried  the  young 
girl. 

The  fairy's  eyes  were  bright,  as  only  fairies'  eyes 
can  be,  and  she  said  :  "  If  you  will  do  all  I  tell  you 
to,  you  shall  go." 

Mark  all  the  words  in  the  above  selection  which  show  own- 
ership. 

What  changes  are  made  in  the  form  of  the  words  to  show 
possession  ? 

-  All  nouns  in  the  singular  and  all  plurals  not  ending  in  s 
form  their  possessives  by  the  addition  of  the  apostrophe  and 
s,  as  : 

32 


Possessives.  33 

The  girl's  hat.     The  children's  book.     The  horse's 
mane. 

Plural  nouns  ending  in  s  add  the  apostrophe  only,  as : 
The  girls'  hats.     The  horses'  manes. 

WORK  IN  POSSESSIVES. 

1.  When  Orpheus  sang  and  played,  it  was  as  if 
his  mother's  voice  were  singing  to  Apollo's  lyre. 

2.  How  shall  Psyche's  feelings  be  described  ?  Was 
it  possible  that  she   was  a  horrible  dragon's  wife? 
Promise  or  no  promise,  she  must  know.    So,  slipping 
in    upon    her    husband's    sleep,    she    saw    Cupid's 
beautiful  face.     She   bent  over  her  husband's  form 
enraptured,  but,  alas!  the  lamp's  wick  spluttered,  and 
a  drop  of  oil  fell  on  his   naked   shoulders.     Cupid 
awoke  and   with  a  sad  look  of  reproach   he   disap- 
peared. 

In  the  following  sentences  tell  whether  the  nouns  in  italics 
are  singular  or  plural.     What  nouns  show  ownership  ? 

1.  The  sheep  is  in  the  yard. 

2.  Theyfo6  are  in  the  bowl. 

3.  Do  you  see  that  yfo^  in  the  bowl  ? 

4.  Theyfr^'s  fin  is  broken. 

5.  The  she  eft  s  wool  is  white. 

6.  Those  trees'  leaves  are  falling. 

7.  Do  you  see  those  fish  in  the  bowl  ? 

8.  Look  at  those  deer  in  the  yard. 

9.  That  deer^s  foot  is  caught. 


34  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Fill  in  the  blanks  with  some  form  of  lady,  boy,  tree,  baby. 

1.  I  bought  a  dozen handkerchiefs. 

2.  I  think  the mother  is  ill. 

3.  You  are  too  large  to  ride  a bicycle. 

4.  Those are  losing  their  leaves. 

5.  The rattle  is  lost. 

All  the  names  I  know  from  nurse : 
Gardener's  garters,  shepherd's  purse, 
Bachelor's    buttons,  lady's  smock, 
And  the  lady  hollyhock. 

Fairies'  places,  fairies'  things, 
Fairies'  woods,  where  the  wild  bee  wings, 
Tiny  trees  for  tiny  dames — 
These  must  all  be  fairy  names. 

Fair  are  grown-up  people's  trees, 
But  the  fairest  woods  are  these ; 
Where,  if  I  were  not  so  tall, 
I  should  live  for  good  and  all. 

—EGBERT  k.  STEVENSON. 

Kitty's  red  hair  was  curled  in  thirty-four  ringlets, 
Sarah  Maud's  was  braided  in  one  pigtail,  and  Susan's 
and  Eily's  in  two  braids  apiece,  while  Peoria's  re- 
sisted all  advances  in  the  shape  of  hair  oil,  and  stuck 
out  straight  on  all  sides  like  that  of  the  Circassian 

girl  of  the  circus. 

KATE  DOUGLAS  WIGGIN. 


Possessive*.  35 

Fill  in  these  blanks. 

The son  went  abroad  over  the  land  with  the 

strange slipper.  It  was  tried  on  the  foot  of  a 

duchess,  the  foot  of  a  princess,  and  on  the  feet  of 

many  young  ladies  of  high  degree ;  but  the foot 

was  too  large ;  the foot  was  too  long,  and  none 

of  the  young feet  would  fit  the  slipper. 

At  last  it  came turn  and  Cinder foot  fitted 

the  slipper,  and  she  became  the wife. 

In  the  following  sentences  change  the  nouns  in  italics  to 
one  noun  showing  ownership. 

The  boat  that  belongs  to  Charles  is  in  the  water. 

The  horse  that  belongs  to  Harold  won  the  race. 

The  hat  that  Julia  wears  is  new. 

The  eyes  of  the  dog  are  large. 

The  tail  of  the  fox  is  bushy. 

The  dress  of  the  girl  \$  pretty. 

The  slipper  that  belonged  to  Cinderella  was 
brought  to  her  by  the  son  of  the  King. 

The  coach  and  four  that  belonged  to  the  King 
appeared. 

The  tiny  mice  and  large  pumpkin  that  belonged  to 
Cinderella  were  changed  into  a  beautiful  coach  and 
four. 

One  of  the  slippers  that  belonged  to  Perseus  was 
lost  in  the  water. 


CHAPTER  V. 
CORRECT  USE. 

This  and  that  and  these  and  those  are  used  to  identify  (point 
out)  nouns. 

This  and  these  identify  nouns  near  at  hand. 
That  and  those  identify  nounS  farther  away. 
This  and  that  should  always  identify  singular  nouns,  as  : 

This  doll  in  my  arms  is  mine. 

That  doll  in  the  bed  belongs  to  Mary. 

These  and  those  should  always  identify  plural  nouns. 
These  marbles  are  ten  cents  apiece. 
Those  marbles  in  the  box  are  cheaper. 

Fill  in  blanks  with  this  or  that,  or  these  or  those. 

book  in  my  hand  is  a  reader. 

books  on  the  table  are  grammars. 

—  orange  on  my  plate  is  larger  than one  in 

the  dish. 

pencils  on  your  desk  are  sharper  than in 

my  box. 

Fill  in  with  this  and  these. 

—  kind  of  knife  cost  fifty  cents. 

— -  kinds  of  fruit  are  rare  in  cold  countries. 
36 


Correct  Use.  37 

Fill  in  with  that  and  those. 

I  don't  like kind  of  apples. 

I  don't  like kinds  of  apples. 

Give  reason  for  choice. 

Avoid  using  don't  for  doesn't. 

Use  does  not  or  doesn't  when  speaking  of  some  one  person 
or  thing,  as  : 

He  does  not  live  here,  or  He  doesn't  live  here. 

Use  do  not  or  don't  when   speaking   to  some  person    or 
thing,  as  : 

You  do  not  ride  a  wheel,  or  You  dorft  ride  a  wheel. 

Use  do  not  or  don't  when  speaking  <y  yourself ,  as  : 

I  do  not  know  my  lesson,  or  I  flfo#'/know  nay  lesson. 

Use  do  not  or  don't  when  speaking  of  more  than  one  person 
or  thing,  as : 

They   do  not  go  to  school,   or  They  don't  go  to 
school. 

Fill  in  with  either  doesn't  or  don't. 

He like  to  work. 

They take  care  of  their  flowers. 

Mary  says  she wish  to  go. 

Their  father  and  mother enjoy  traveling. 


38  Lessons  in  Language   Work 

I  think  I like  the  name  you  have  given  your 

dog,  but  then  it make  much  difference  what  a 

dog  is  named. 

Harry   like   fairy   stories,    and  I  like 

stories  of  adventure.  When  he  reads  a  fairy  story, 
he  says  :  "I see  how  a  person  can  read  any- 
thing he believe. 

Avoid  the  use  of  love  for  like. 

We  like  what  appeals  to  our  taste. 

We  like  flowers,  books,  pictures,  etc. 

We  love  what  appeals  to  our  affections. 
We  love  pets,  friends,  our  parents,  etc. 

Fill  in  with  like  or  love. 

I grapes  better  than  any  other  kind  of  fruit. 

I  my  mother  more  than  any  one  else  in  the 

whole  world. 

I to  read  stories  about  fairy  godmothers  who 

are  kind  to  poor  little  girls  who  have  no  one  to 

them. 

I violets  better  than  any  other  flower. 

Avoid  the  use  of  learn  for  teach. 
Teach  means  to  impart  knowledge. 
Learn  means  to  acquire  knowledge. 


Correct  Use.  39 

Fill  in  with  some  form  of  learn  or  teach 
Miss  Brown me  French. 

Frank,   won't  you   please  me  to  speak  this 

piece  ?     I  can't it. 

Won't  you  please me  to  embroider  ?     I  want 

to so  that  I  can  make  some  doilies  for  mother. 

I  want  Mary  to me  to  play  basket  ball. 

I  will you  to  play  tennis. 

Will  you me  to  hemstitch  ? 

I  will with  pleasure. 

Did  you from  your  mother? 

No ;  she  hasn't  time  to me. 

Avoid  the  use  of*  may  for  can. 

May  shows  permission. 

Can  shows  power. 

Fill  in  blanks  with  can  or  may. 

1  borrow  your  book  nntil  I find  my  own  ? 

Robert  and  Helen  come  into  the   house  and 

play  with  me  ?     I  have   such  a   cold  I not  go 

out. 

I  speak  to  you  a  few  minutes?     I not 

understand  this  example. 


40  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Avoid  the  use  of  sit  for  set.  Set  and  lay  and  their  different 
forms  show  action  carried  over  to  some  obiect.  I  set  the  dish 
on  the  table.  I  lay  the  book  on  the  desk.  Sit  and  lie  and 
their  different  forms  show  action  not  carried  over  to  some  ob- 
ject. You  sit  (yourself)  down.  The  action  remains  with 
the  actor  and  is  not  carried  to  some  outside  thing. 

Fill  in  blanks  with  some  form  of  lie  or  lay. 

I  shall your  knife  on  the  table. 

Mother  is down. 

She  had  just down  when  you  came. 

The  grounds  are out  in  beautiful  gardens. 

Will  you your  coat  on  the  chair? 

They  are the  corner  stone  of  the  new  church 

to-day. 

off  your  wrap. 

down  and  rest  before  dinner. 

Elizabeth  said  she the  book  on  the  table. 

Barbara  has down. 

Dorothea in  the  hammock  all  morning. 

Fill  in  blanks  with  some  form  of  set  or  sit. 

This  place  could  not  have  been  better  for  a  croquet 
ground  if  those  trees  had  been out  by  order. 

We  must  start  home  early,  because  the  sun 

early  this  time  of  year. 

Bruce  and  Waldo  may on  the  beach  and  watch 

the  breakers. 


Correct  Use.  41 

The  three  little  girls  on  the   shore  and  told 

stories  of  sea  fairies. 

While     they talking,     a     great     school     of 

porpoises  caine  spouting  near  the  shore. 

The  children  went  nearer  to  the  water's  edge,  but 

they  hardly  had themselves  when  a  great  wave 

dashed    up    and    washed    the    beach     where    they 
were . 

Now  girls  while  you  are  the   table  I    shall 

out  the  wickets,  and  we  can  be  ready  to  play 

croquet  when  lunch  is  over. 

Fill  in  blanks  with  one  of  the  following  words,  and  give 
reason  for  use : 

No,  any,  them,  those,  /or  me. 

1  have paper. 

Bring  me  books. 

I  gave to  him. 

I  haven't chalk. 

He  said  that  you  and might  go. 

He  gave  it  to  you  and . 

It  was who  whispered. 

Give  it  to  Ann  and . 


42  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 


ERRORS  TO  BE   AVOIDED. 


If  is  well  to  keep  these  correct  forms  on  the  board. 


Be  careful  to  say  : 

I  have  no  pencil. 
I  haven't  any  pencil* 

May  I  get  a  pencil  ? 
May  I  sit  with  Clara  ? 

I  can't  work  those  examples. 
I  haverft  any  book. 
I  didn't  say  anything. 
He  came  home  last  night. 

Avoid  using  the  word  can  for  may. 

Avoid  using  the  word  got  after  have. 

Avoid  using  the  word  nothing  for  anything. 

Avoid  using  the  plural  those  with  the  singular  kind. 

Avoid  using  the  word  airit. 

Avoid  using  set  for  sit. 

Avoid  saying  them  for  those. 


Correct  Use.  43 

Avoid  saying  no  when  you  use  haven't. 
Avoid  saying  git  for  get. 
Avoid  saying  jest  tor  just. 
Avoid  saying  come  for  came. 

Be  careful  to  repeat  the  name  after  yes,  no  or  what,  in 
place  of  ma'am  or  sir,  as  : 

Yes,  Miss  Brown. 
No,  Miss  Brown. 
What,  Miss  Brown  ? 

Be  careful  to  say  : 

Did  you — not  did  jew. 
Won't  you — not  won't  chew. 
Can't  you — not  can't  chew* 
Recess' — not  re'  cess. 

Do  not  add  5  to  such  words,  as  :  toward,  eastward,  backward, 
etc. 

Fill  in  blanks  with  one  of  the  following  words : 
He^  she,  him,  her,  /or  me. 

The  boy  said  it  was who  broke  my  knife. 

It  must  have  been who  left  the  door  open. 

Mary  said  it  was  —    -  who  spoke  to  you  and  — 
about  it,  but  I  did  not  hear if  she  did. 


44  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

I  should  rather  be if  he  did  have  to  stay  at 

home  than . 

Every  girl  and  every  boy  has  in the  . 

material  with  which  to  build  a  character. 

Charles  said  it  was who  brought  the  letter. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
LETTER    WRITING. 

RULES. 

1.  Never  write  a  letter  with,  a  pencil. 

2.  Answer  all  letters  promptly.     It  is  a  lack  of 
courtesy  to  put  off  answering  a  letter. 

3.  Avoid  writing  anything  in   a  letter  that  you 
would  be  ashamed  to  have  read  by  any  one. 

4.  Never   send   a  letter  that   contains  a  blotted 
word,  or  words  that  have  been  scratched  out,  or  letters 
marked  out.     Take  time  to  copy  the  letter. 

5.  Let  every  new  subject  begin  a  new  paragraph. 

6.  Remember  that   every  thought  expressed  is  a 
sentence,  and  must  begin  with  a  capital  and  end  with 
some  punctuation  mark. 

7.  Never  use  undue  familiarity  in  a  letter. 

8.  Pay  your  friend  the  compliment  of  sending  a 
letter  composed  of  your  best  thoughts  concerning  the 
things  you  think  would  prove  of  most  interest. 

9.  Never  apologize  for  a  letter. 

10.  Avoid  beginning  a  letter  with  the  pronoun  I. 

45 


46 


Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

\  340 


28,  I  8CJ4. 

If  the  heading  of  the  letter  were  written  out  in 
full  it  would  read  :  1340  Beacon  Street  in  the  City 
of  Boston  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  on  the  day 
of  the  28th  of  October  of  1894. 

What  takes  the  place  of  the  words  that  are  omitted  ? 
Why  do  we  use  the  periods  ?  Why  do  we  use  the 
commas  ? 

RULES    FOR   THE    ENVELOPE. 


Letter   Writing.  47 

Always  place  the  stamp  in  the  upper  right-hand 
corner.  Place  a  comma  after  the  name,  one  after 
the  street,  unless  it  is  abbreviated,  then  place  a 
period  after  the  abbreviation  and  a  comma  after  the 
period.  Place  a  comma  after  the  city  and  a  period 
after  the  State. 

The  name  of  the  person  addressed  should  be  placed 
slightly  below  the  middle  of  the  envelope  ;  the  street 
and  number  below,  a  little  to  the  right ;  the  city  be- 
low, and  to  the  right  of  that ;  and  the  State  below, 
and  still  to  the  right. 


x 


S>tbA 

y 

PolcvOOo, 


NOTE. — Custom  permits  the  omission  of  commas  in  the  address  of 
the  envelope. 


48  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 


HEADINGS. 


.    I  5,    I  8CJ5. 


P.  ©,.  18cxx>  SCjk, 

,  Ml.,  &Jv.  S,   I  8C|5. 


3, 1  8C|3, 


Letter   Writing.  49 


SALUTATIONS. 


HEADING. 


HEADING. 


ItKAUIUG. 


Lessons  in  Language   Work. 


.  a.  3. 

bLl-5 


HEADING. 


CouAi/vv 


HEADIXG. 


Letter   Writing.  51 

SIGNATURES. 


to 
J! 


to  ftA/ciA'  pixvrw  a^ou/  ^JX>OTL,  A 


CWVb, 


to  viA/aA; 


52  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 


STREET   AND   NUMBER. 


TOWN    AND    STATE. 


THE    ADDRESS. 


THE   SALUTATION. 


THE   BODY. 


THE    BODY. 


THE    STGNAXOHE. 


Letter   Writing.  53 


EXAMPLES  OF  LETTERS. 


.   15, 


A  oa/wu> 

Jl 


do  Kxvb>e>  OAXMA^  UMAA/  p^eX 
It,   a/nxL  eyoocAAA^  Tn^   tmA/    cvrtae^. 
eJyuA/ruxL  l/fc  d^eyu^Ax 
fcrixxt    OXXMA/    KXXAK^    T\x>t    \y-uuv\j    i/w- 


54  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

(FRIENDLY  NOTE  WRITTEN  BY  A  PUPIL.) 


,  J28,   I8C|8. 


txx>,    bcuc    a/ 

^   t?u.e>.      3K^e>  t?U> 

.      Jl 


CU 


ou 
tx>  tttt  IXMA;  tKxi^  cvn^o 


uxilv  to-o>o  to  oXL, 


Letter   Writing.  55 


INFORMAL    INVITATION. 

WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS. 


_  -.   15, 

n/cxA/  cu/\Kyvi/  TVL-O 
to-  IOXX/IM^  ex/  ja>lc/Yu>o  cut 


lioloO  &CMA/vt?v  j^.  ^Ccufco 


INFORMAL    ACCEPTANCE. 


TUvxv.  I  b, 


OAKMA^     t^KA/XK^    Op    U^v.        tilp 

oa/ru  gx>,  tA>o  anXt  cxwyu^  foA/  a^cvuy 
.       UUL*  a/Uy  c^cM/vix^  tx>  dAx/xM^  i/vu  cu 
jQo  cxwvu>  L    a/pCKAy  cx^rt,  oA^  J  t#wnl^  u>t/ 
cu 


fcf-vo/fc 

AXVW,     Jl  o/vw  cpux/cL  fcnxxt  O^XMA/  aA^y  C^OA/YU^  VY\J 
ou  t^cuAA^-nx>,   Lo'v  ol  vtci/iK^  TUyxMAx  \AxLcUyvv  I/TL/ 
Wt^»  CmxxXt  fve>  \Axo>cLi^  u>ru2yru  O^XMAX  cxwru^  poA/ 


56  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 


APPLICATION    FOR    A    SITUATION 

WRITTEN  BY  PUPILS. 


JdeX 

f/oV 
L," 

Vb. 

o!  Y^A/  IXMA/    to 


^ 
1210 


til 

c5 

u-e>e>nay  i 


cu     u          o-o^    t/n, 
7lx>o>-e/YVvE>-eyiy    1  5tfv,   J!  oJiJiri      c^v  ttvcut 


.  ,o, 


to  t#u/m>  cUiy  to 

CL 


Letter  Writing.  57 

Write 

A  letter  of  invitation  for  a  party  ;  for  a  picnic. 

A  letter  accompanying  a  Christmas  present. 

A  letter  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  a  Christmas 
or  birthday  present. 

A  letter  to  grandma  telling  her  about  your  school 
life. 

A  letter  telling  about  the  last  new  story  you  have 
read  or  heard  read. 

A  letter  to  your  favorite  author  telling  why  he  or 
she  is  the  favorite.  Which  of  the  author's  pieces  is 
the  favorite,  and  why  ? 

A  letter  telling  the  resemblances  you  find  in 
the  "  Childhood  of  Hiawatha  "  and  "  Bare-foot  boy." 
How  they  differ.  Which  you  prefer.  Why? 
Which  one  of  the  authors  gives  us  a  glance  at  his 
own  childhood.  What  do  you  know  of  the  boyhood 
of  each  ? 

A  letter  introducing  a  friend. 

A  letter  applying  for  a  position  as  office  boy  or 
cash  boy ; 


58  Lessons  in  Language  Work. 

A  letter  answering  an  advertisement  for  a  boy  for 
such  a  position. 

If  you  were  successful  in  getting  such  a  position, 
give  five  rules  that  it  would  be  well  to  follow  if  you 
wished  to  keep  your  position. 

Write  a  letter  describing  a  pupil  who  has  been 
away  to  school  two  years. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
DICTATION. 

SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHERS. 

Dictate  a  short  story  or  anecdote  containing  conversational 
sentences,  requiring  quotation  marks.  Have  the  papers  ex- 
changed, discussed  in  class  and  corrected,  then  raise  the  cur- 
tain and  show  the  work  done  correctly  on  the  board.  Make  a 
note  of  errors  for  future  reference.  Encourage  pupils  to  ob- 
serve their  own  mistakes. 

Again  have  some  of  the  class  pass  to  the  board.  Give  out 
the  dictation  exercise.  Have  the  pupils  at  their  seats  observe 
and  offer  corrections. 

After  all  the  work  has  been  corrected,  refer  to  the  correct 
work,  which  has  been  previously  placed  on  the  board  under 
the  curtain. 

Dictate  your  exercise  distinctly  the  first  time,  and  refuse  to 
repeat.  Children  get  into  a  habit  of  expecting  the  teacher  to 
repeat.  Discuss  the  use  of  all  punctuation  marks.  Require 
the  pupils  to  give  reason  for  use. 

Examples  of  Dictation  Stories. 
SOCRATES   AND   HIS   FRIENDS. 

Socrates  once  built  a  house,  and  everybody  who 
saw  it  had  something  or  other  to  say  against  it. 
"  What  a  front !"  said  one.  "  What  an  inside  1"  said 
another.  "  What  rooms !  not  big  enough  to  turn 
around  in,"  said  a  third.  "  Small  as  it  is,"  answered 
Socrates,  UI  wish  I  had  true  friends  enough  to  fill  it." 

—jEsop's  Fables. 
59 


60  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

THE  FOX   IN   THE  WELL. 

An  unlucky  fox  having  fallen  into  a  well  was 
able,  by  dint  of  great  effort,  to  keep  his  head  above 
water.  While  he  was  there  struggling  and  sticking 
his  claws  into  the  side  of  the  well,  a  wolf  came  by 
and  looked  in. 

u  What  !  my  dear  brother,"  said  he,  with  affected 
concern,  "  can  it  really  be  you  that  I  see  down 
there  ?  How  cold  you  must  feel  !  How  long  have 
you  been  in  ?  How  came  you  to  fall  in  ?  I  am  so 
pained  to  see  you  !  Do  tell  me  all  about  it  !" 

"  The  end  of  a  rope  would  be  of  more  use  to  me 
than  all  your  pity,"  answered  the  fox.  "Just  help 
me  to  set  my  foot  once  more  on  solid  ground  and 
you  shall  have  the  whole  story." 


THE  FOX   AND  THE  COUNTRYMAN. 

A  fox  having  been  hunted  hard,  and  after  a  long 
chase,  saw  a  countryman  at  work  in  a  wood,  and 
begged  him  to  help  him  to  some  hiding  place.  The 
man  said  he  might  go  into  his  cottage,  which  was 
close  by.  He  was  no  sooner  in  than  the  huntsmen 
came  up.  "Have  you  seen  a  fox  pass  this  way?" 
said  they.  The  countryman  said,  "  No,"  but  pointed 
at  the  same  time  toward  the  place  where  the  fox  lay. 


Dictation.  61 

The  huntsmen  did  not  take  the  hint,  however,  and 
made  off  again  at  full  speed.  The  fox,  who  had  seen  all 
that  took  place  through  a  chink  in  the  wall,  thereupon 
came  out,  and  was  walking  away  without  a  word. 
"  Why,  how  now?"  said  the  man,  "  Haven't  you  the 
manners  to  thank  your  host  before  you  go  ?"  "  Yes, 
yes,"  said  the  fox,  if  you  had  been  as  honest  with 
your  finger  as  you  were  with  your  tongue,  I  shouldn't 
have  gone  without  saying  good-bye." 


AUGUST   METEORS. 

Little  stars,  pretty  stars,  what  are  you  about, 
Tripping  here,  skipping  there,  dancing  in  and  out  ? 
What's  the  game  you're  playing  in  such  a  merry  troop, 
Pussy  in  the  corner,  or  is  it  hide  and  coop  ? 
Little  stars,  pretty  stars,  racing,  chasing  so 
In  the  big  sky  meadows,  won't  you  let  me  know  ? 

—  Written  for  Youths'  Companion. 

SALLY. 

Jimmy  and  his  sister  Sally  were  two  little  Fresh 
Air  children,  who  were  spending  a  week  in  the 
country  where  all  was  so  strange  and  new.  When 
they  went  to  bed  on  the  evening  of  the  Fourth  they 
were  too  happy  to  sleep,  and  lay  chattering  together 
for  a  long  time. 


62  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

"  How  nice  those  strawberries  were  !"  said  Sally. 
"And  the  chocolate  ice  cream  !"  cried  Jimmy. 
"And  the  cake  with  sweet  snow  on  top !"  said  Sally. 
"And  the  firecrackers." 
"And  the  skyrockets." 

"And — the — "  Jimmy's  voice  dropped,  and  his  eyes 
closed.  But  Sally's  eyes  would  not  close.  She 
looked  out  of  the  window  at  the  stars.  One  star 
kept  dancing  about ;  it  flew  in  through  the  open  win- 
dow and  twinkled  now  here,  now  there,  all  around  the 
room.  Sally  had  never  seen  a  firefly,  and  she  was 
very  much  puzzled. 

At  last  she  thought  she  understood  it. 

"O  Jimmy,"  she  called,  "wake  up!  Here's  a 
mosquito  keeping  the  Fourth." 

— Written  for  Youths'  Companion. 

"  GRASSHOPPER." 

There's  an  old  fellow,  all  wrinkled  and  yellow, 

That  sits  in  a  queer  little  heap 
By  his  open  door,  all  shaded  o'er 

With  an  awning  of  clover  deep. 
He  is  keeping  shop  in  the  summer  grass, 
And  he  calls  to  whatever  may  happen  to  pass, 

"  Cheap,  cheap,  cheap." 


Dictation.  63 

I  never  could  tell  what  he  has  to  sell, 

For  j  ust  as  soon  as  I  creep 
To  the  swinging  sign  of  the  blue  grass  fine 

He  is  off  with  a  flying  leap  ; 
But  far  away  in  the  meadow  then 
I  hear  him  crying  his  wares  again, 

"  Cheap3  cheap,  cheap." 

—  Written  for  Youths'  Companion. 
THE   MOUNTAIN   AND   THE   SQUIRREL. 

The  mountain  and  the  squirrel 

Had  a  quarrel, 

And  the  former  called  the  latter  "  Little  prig." 

Bun  replied, 

"  You  are  doubtless  very  big, 

But  all  sorts  of  things  and  weather 

Must  be  taken  in  together 

To  make  up  a  year, 

And  a  sphere : 

And  I  think  it  no  disgrace 

To  occupy  my  place; 

If  I'm  not  as  large  as  you, 

You  are  not  so  small  as  I, 

And  not  half  so  spry ; 

I'll  not  deny  you  make 

A  very  pretty  squirrel  track. 


64  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Talents  differ;  all  is  well  and  wisely  put; 
If  I  cannot  carry  forests  on  my  back; 
Neither  can  you  crack  a  nut." 

— RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON. 
PURRING   WHEN   YOU'RE   PLEASED. 

And  when  there  was  nothing  else  to  be  pleased 
about,  there  were  always  their  own  tails  to  run  after, 
and  the  fun  was  surely  irresistible,  and  well  deserved 
a  song. 

Yet  the  brother  very  seldom  committed  himself  in 
that  way — that  was  the  great  puzzle,  and  Puss  Missy 
grew  more  perplexed  as  time  went  on.  Nay,  once, 
when  they  were  quite  alone  together,  and  her  spirits 
had  quite  got  the  better  of  her  judgment,  she  boldly 
asked  him,  in  as  many  words,  "  Why  do  you  not 
purr  when  you  are  pleased  ?"  as  if  it  was  quite  nat- 
ural and  the  proper  thing  to  do.  Whereat  he  seemed 
quite  taken  by  surprise,  but  answered  at  last,  "'It's 
so  weak  minded,7  mother  says  :  I  should  be  ashamed. 
Besides,"  added  he,  after  a  short  pause,  "  to  tell  you 
the  truth — but  don't  say  anything  about  it — 
when  I  begin,  there's  something  that  chokes  a 
little  in  my  throat.  Mind  you  don't  tell — it  would 
let  me  down  so  in  mother's  eyes.  She  likes  one  to 
keep  up  one's  dignity,  you  know." 

— Parables  from  Nature 


Dictation.  65 

THE  BLUB  JAY. 

1.  "  You  may  call  a  jay  a  bird.     Well,  so  he  is,  be- 
cause he  has  feathers  on  him.     Otherwise  he  is  just 
as  human  as  you  are. 

"  Yes,  sir  ;  a  jay  is  everything  that  a  man  is.  A 
jay  can  laugh,  a  jay  can  gossip,  a  jay  can  feel 
ashamed,  just  as  well  as  you  do — maybe  better.  And 
there's  another  thing :  In  good,  clean,  out  and  out 
scolding,  a  blue  jay  can  beat  anything  alive. 

2.  "  'Halloo,'  says  he,  'I  reckon  here's  something.' 
When  he  spoke  the  acorn  fell  out  of  his  mouth  and 
rolled  down  the  roof.     He  didn't  care — his  mind  was 
all  on  the  thing  he  had  found. 

"  It  was  a  knot  hole  in  the  roof.  He  cocked  his 
head  to  one  side,  shut  one  eye,  and  put  the  other  to 
the  hole  like  a  possum  looking  down  a  jug. 

"  Then  he  looked  up,  gave  a  wink  or  two  with  his 
wings,  and  says  :  '  It  looks  like  a  hole — it's  placed 
like  a  hole — I  think  it  is  a  hole  !' 

3.  l(  Then  he  cocked  his  head  down  and  took  another 
look.     He  looked  up  with  joy  this  time,  winked  his 
wings  and  his  tail  both,  and  says  :     ( Well,  now  I'm 
in  luck  !     Why,  it's  an  elegant  hole  !' 

u  So  he  flew  off  and  brought  another  acorn  and 
dropped  it  in,  and  tried  to  get  his  eye  to  the  hole 
quick  enough  to  see  what  became  of  it.  He  was  too 


66  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

late.     He  got  another  acorn  and  tried  to  see  where  it 
went,  but  he  couldn't. 

4.  "  He  says  :     '  Well,  I  never  saw  such  a  hole  as 
this  before.     I  reckon  it's  a  new  kind.'     Then  he  got 
angry  and  ran  up  and  down  the  roof.     I  never  saw  a 
bird  take  on  so. 

"  When  he  got  through  he  looked  in  the  hole  for 
half  a  minute;  then  he  says:  '  Well,  you're  a  long 
hole,  and  a  deep  hole,  and  a  queer  hole,  but  I  have 
started  to  fill  you,  and  I'll  do  it  if  it  takes  a  hundred 
years.' 

"  And,  with  that,  away  he  went.  For  .two  hours 
and  a  half  you  never  saw  a  bird  work  so  hard.  He 
did  not  stop  to  look  in  any  more,  but  j  ust  threw 
acorns  in,  and  went  for  more. 

5.  "  Well,  at  last  he  could  hardly  flap  his  wings,  he 
was  so  tired  out.     So   he  bent  down  for  a  look.     He 
looked   up  pale  with  rage.     He  says  :     f  I've  put  in 
enough  acorns  to  keep  the  family  thirty  years,  and  I 
can't  see  a  sign  of  them.' 

u  Another  jay  was  going  by  and  heard  him.  So  he 
stopped  to  ask  what  was  the  matter.  Our  jay  told 
him  the  story.  Then  he  went  and  looked  down  the 
hole  and  came  back  and  said  :  c  How  many  tons  did 
you  put  in  there  ?  ' 

"  *  Not  less  than  two,'  said  our  jay. 


Dictation.  67 

6.  "  The  other  jay  looked  again,  but  could  not  make 
it  out;  so  he  gave  a  yell  and  three  more  jays  came. 
They  all  talked  at  once  for  awhile,  and  then  called  in 
more  jays. 

u  Pretty  soon  the  air  was  blue  with  jays,  and  every 
jay  put  his  eye  to  the  hole  and  told  what  he  thought. 
They  looked  the  house  all  over,  too.  The  door  was 
partly  open,  and  at  last  one  old  jay  happened  to  look 
in.  There  lay  the  acorns  all  over  the  cabin  floor. 

u  He  flapped  his  wings  and  gave  a  yell,  c  Come 
here,  everybody  !  Ha !  Ha  !  He's  been  trying  to 
fill  a  house  with  acorns.' 

uAs  each  jay  took  a  look,  the  fun  of  the  thing 
struck  him,  and  how  he  did  laugh !  And  for  an  hour 
after  they  roosted  on  the  housetop  and  trees  and 
laughed  like  human  beings. 

"It  isn't  any  use  to  tell  me  a  blue  jay  hasn't  any 
fun  in  him.  I  know  better." 

—Adapted  from  Mark  Twain1  s  Story  of  The  Jay. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE    USE    OF    THE    DICTIONARY. 

Under  how  many  different  headings  is  the  contents  of  Web- 
ster's Unabridged  Dictionary  classified  ? 

In  what  part  of  the  dictionary  is  to  be  found  the  department 
of  proper  names,  of  geographical  names,  phrases  and  quota- 
tions ? 

Time  spent  in  becoming  familiar  with  the  use  of  a  good 
dictionary  is  time  well  spent.  The  power  to  discriminate  be- 
tween the  different  meanings  of  words,  so  that  we  may  use 
the  word  best  adapted  to  express  our  thought,  comes  only 
with  much  practice.  Almost  every  word  has  more  than  one 
meaning,  and  again  many  different  words  may  apply  to  one 
idea,  with  shades  of  difference  in  meaning  so  fine,  sometimes, 
that  it  is  only  by  careful  training  that  the  proper  distinction 
in  use  may  be  made. 

NOTE    TO    TEACHER. 

(Systematic  and  continued  drill  should  be  given  daily  in  the 
study  of  words,  using  a  good  unabridged  dictionary  as  text. 
This  should  be  a  part  of  the  reading  lesson  and  the  spelling 
lesson. 

Practice  in  the  use  of  synonyms  might  well  be  a  part  of 
every  day's  language  work.) 

In  the  following  sentences  give  meaning  of  italic  words. 

She  has  a  fine  face. 

She  has  a  remarkable  face. 

68 


The  Use  of  the  Dictionary.  69 


She  lias  a  beautiful  face. 
She  has  a  lovely  face. 
She  has  a  sze/^/  face. 
She  has  a  pretty  face. 
She  has  a  sunny  face. 
She  has  a  cheerful  face. 

Give  meaning  of  italic  words. 
He  is  a  gentle  boy. 


He  is  a  &W  boy. 
He  is  a  thoughtful  boy. 
He  is  a  helpful  boy. 
He  is  an  earnest  boy. 
He  is  a  ^zizV/  boy. 


Give  meaning  of  italic  words. 

He  is  a  jolly  boy. 
He  is  a  merry  boy. 
He  is  a  happy  boy. 
He  is  a  playful  boy. 
He  is  a  funny  boy. 

Use  correctly  in  a  sentence  the  following  words  : 

Anxiety,  anxious,  reputation,  character,  stop,  stay, 
home,  house,  knowledge,  wisdom,  lovely,  handsome, 
bring,  carry. 


yo  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

When  a  word  has  several  different  meanings  it  is  sometimes 
hard  to  decide  which  meaning  to  use. 

HOW  TO   CHOOSE   THE   RIGHT  DEFINITION. 

In  the  following  sentence — The  girl  gave  a  plain  statement 
of  the  case— if  we  look  for  the  definition  of  the  word  plain  we 
shall  find  that  Century  Dictionary  gives  three  different  mean- 
ings to  the  word  :  i.  An  expanse  of  level  land.  2.  Without 
adornment  or  beauty,  as  plain  looking.  3.  Frankly  uttered  ; 
clearly. 

Now  the  word  plain  is  not  used  here  to  express  an  expanse 
of  level  country,  nor  is  its  use  explained  by  the  second  mean- 
ing— without  beauty  or  adornment, — although  that  idea  is 
partly  expressed  by  this  use  of  the  word.  The  third  definition 
gives,  in  a  direct  manner — frank,  clear.  Here  we  have  the 
meaning  exactly  fitting  our  use  of  the  word — Plain,  here  used, 
means  a  frank,  clear  statement. 

Always  choose  the  definition  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  word. 

I/>ok  up  the  definitions  of  the  following  words  and  use  in 
sentences  showing  different  meanings  : 

party  press  number 

sound  pound  object 

deep  peal  command 

board  desert  venture 

mind  wound  round 

You  will  see  that  when  the  word  is  used  as  a  noun  it  is 
followed  by  the  letter  ' '  n  ' ' ;  when  used  as  a  verb  it  is  followed 
by  the  letter  "  v  ";  when  used  to  describe,  by  the  letter  "  a  " — 


The  Use  of  the  Dictionary.  71 

which  stands  for  adjective  ;  when  used  as  an  adverb  it  is 
followed  by  "  ad  " — the  sign  of  the  adverb.  You  will  also  see 
that  the  use  of  the  word  often  decides  its  meaning,  so  it  is  well 
to  cultivate  the  habit  of  looking  for  the  letters  showing  the  part 
of  speech  when  selecting  the  definition. 

PHONICS. 

The  teaching  of  the  diacritical  marking  of  letters  seems  to 
have  been  laid  upon  the  shelf  as  unnecessary  work.  The 
reason  given  for  this  is  that  at  the  bottom  of  each  page  of 
every  dictionary  is  a  key  explaining  the  sounds  expressed  by 
the  different  diacritical  marks.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  children 
are  not  inclined  to  look  up  the  pronunciation  of  the  different 
words  they  use.  Without  drill  in  the  study  of  phonics  con- 
tinued throughout  the  grammar  grades,  children  will  not  be 
sufficiently  trained  to  discriminate  as  to  the  correct  sounds  of 
the  letters  which  make  up  the  words  of  every-day  discourse. 

American  children  pronounce  their  words  badly.  It  is  not 
alone  that  the  voices  are  not  trained  to  modulated,  controlled 
tones,  but  syllables  are  neither  articulated  nor  rightly  sounded. 
Such  vowels  as  a  in  laugh,  calf,  ask,  master,  aunt,  can't,  and 
the  o  in  fog,  God,  dog,  and  many  others,  are  not  correctly 
sounded  by  one  child  in  fifty. 

Drill  in  phonics  is  a  much-needed  exercise  for  improving  the 
reading  and  spelling,  as  well  as  the  speaking  of  children. 

DRIU,  IN   DIACRITICAL  MARKING. 

Mark  the  sounds  of  a  in  the  following  : 

i.  A  dark-haired  lady  watched  the  girls  play  their 
game  of  basket  ball.  She  laughed  at  the  way  some 
of  the  girls  ran,  and  said,  "  What  fun  that  is !  " 


72  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

2.  Three  of  the  boys  passed  the  gate  with  a  ball 
and  a  bat.     I  heard   them   laughing  at  a  man  who 
passed  with  a  basket  of  apricots  and  pears  on  one 
arm,   and   a   large   watermelon   on    the    other.     He 
waddled  from  side  to  side. 

3.  Mary  and   Harry  sent  me  an  invitation  to  a 
sailing  party  on  the  bay.     Mamma  says  I  may  go 
if  it  is  warm  and  the  water  is  not  rough.     All  the 
girls  in  our  class  are  invited. 

4.  Many  of  the  girls  are  making  plaster  of  Paris 
vases  and  images.     I  saw  such  a  lovely  little  pair  of 
shepherds  that  Laura  had  made,  when  I  was  calling 
at  her  house   last  week. 

5.  The  man  said  that  the  lady  was  laughing  at 
the  fair-haired  girl  who  was  throwing  the  ball.     She 
swung  her  arm  in  the  air  in  a  frantic  manner,  then 
at  last  threw  the  ball,  and  it  fell  nearly  at  her  feet. 

6.  The   gray-haired   lady    met    me  this  evening. 
She  said  her  daughter  did  not  know  what  became  of 
the  man's  father ;  that  the  last  time  she  saw  him  he 
was  well. 

7.  Can  you  make  that  boy  I    saw  downstairs  in 
the  hall  understand  what  you  say  to  him  ?     I  never 
saw  anyone  so  deaf  when  he  doesn't  want  to  hear.    It 
is  a  far  greater  task  to  ask  him  to  do  anything  than 
to  do  it  myself. 


The   Use  of  the  Dictionary.  73 

8.  A  man  said  he  saw  the  boy  fall  into  the  water, 
that  he  raised  his  arms  three  times,  but  sank  before 
he  could  reach  the  stream. 

9.  Many  days  I  wander  far  away  into  the  forest. 
I  am  happy  to  hear  the  birds  call  to  each  other.     I 
pass  whole  days  listening. 

10.  Mary   had  a   pair   of  strong   arms,  and  she 
asked  no  one  to  haul  the  boat  in  for  her.     All  morn- 
ing she  sailed  on  the  bay,  wandering  far  out  toward 
the  ocean. 

Mark  the  sounds  of  e  in  the  following  : 

1.  Early  to  bed, they  say, is  the  best  medicine  for 
sleeplessness. 

2.  Pearl,  were  the  men  weighing  the  wheat  when 
you  were  out  in  the  shed  ? 

3.  Merry  were    the  hours  they  spent  under  the 
trees  near  the  old  mill. 

4.  Her  heart  was  tender.     She  grieved  that  they 
were  miserable. 

5.  Eight  men  went   over   there  last  evening  and 
searched  everywhere,  but  they  could  not  find  it. 

6.  Where  were  the  men  taking  the  gray  fox  yes- 
terday ? 

7.  Merry  little  Teddy — he  seems  to  see  every- 
thing through  rose  glasses.     Nothing  weighs  heavy 
upon  his  heart. 


74  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

8.  The  evening  the  men  left  the  letter  we  were 
not  at  home.     We  had  not  received  the  news  of  her 
death,  and  had  gone  to  hear  u  Erminie." 

9.  Were  there  eight  geese  on  the  river  where  it 
emerges  from  the  forest  ? 

10.  There  were  eighteen  men  who  said  they  would 
prefer  to  meet  this  evening. 

Mark  the  sounds  of  i  in  the  following  : 

1.  The  policeman  told  Iva  Miller  never  to  hit  a 
little  girl. 

2.  The  children  are  playing  out  in  the  ravine,  dig- 
ging in  the  dirt. 

3.  I  think  that  girl  is  unique. 

4.  Do  you  think  the  girl  was  piqued  because  I 
said  she  flirted  ? 

5.  Alice  brought  me  an  antique  cross  carved  with 
the  Virginia  creeper.     I  prize  it  highly. 

6.  Your  oblique  lines  should  start  from  your  circle 
to  give  the  right  impression. 

7.  That  poor  little  girl  has  cried  herself  to  sleep, 
she   was    fatigued    by    spending    such  a  long  time 
looking  for  the  ring. 

8.  I  think  in  that  whole  circle  of  men  that  I  could 
not  find  one  who  would  not  stoop  to  intrigue. 


The  Use  of  the  Dictionary.  75 

9.  The  white  bird  spread  its  wings  and  flew  over 
the  marine  hospital. 

10.  I  will  show  you  my  new  machine.     It  is  a 
u  White."     My  father  brought  it  from  Virginia. 

Mark  the  sounds  of  o  in  the  following  : 

1.  How  odd  it  is  that  the  old  man  should  have 
done  anything  so  rude  as  to  order  the  poor  woman  to 
cook  his  food. 

2.  Oh,  do  come  here!  our  poor  old  dog  is  wounded. 
We  ordered  some  medicine  by  telephone  but  it  has 
not  come.     He  lies  on  the  floor  of  the  barn. 

3 .  The  boat  is  lost  in  the  fog.    Captain  Todd  ordered 
his  men  to  go  out  to  the  ship  before  the  fog  lifted, 
and  now  the  men  will  be  lost.     The  poor  old  women 
stand  on  the  shore  and  weep. 

4.  How  much  did  the  floor  to  the  new  room  cost  ? 
Has  only  the  parlor  the  border  of  gold,  or  do  you 
know  ?     They  told  me  some  of  the  rooms  were  done 
in  very  odd  colors, 

5.  How  much  discord  some  people  pour  out  upon 
the  world  by  forgetting  that  a  soft  answer  turneth 
away  wrath.     Don't  you  think  so,  too  ? 

6.  I  told  Howard  that,  according  to  what  he  had 
done  in  the  morning,  I  thought  that  the  work  would 
be  finished  this  afternoon. 


76  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

7.  I   hope  George  won't  come  home  before  the 
fog  has  lifted.     He  has  a  long  walk  from  downtown. 

8.  Rolland,  won't  you  come  over  to  our  house  and 
help  ine  loop  up  the  rose  bushes,  and  tie  cords  about 
them  ?     The  dog  has  torn  them  down. 

Mark  the  sounds  of  u  in  the  following : 

1.  I  think   you  were  rude  to  your  uncle  to  put 
your  muddy  feet  upon  the  round  of  his  chair.     I  feel 
hurt  that  you  do  not  try  to  be  more  thoughtful. 

2.  Pull  the   bell.     I  fear   you   have    hurt  your- 
self by  putting  that  ugly,  rough  piece  of  iron  into 
your  mouth. 

3.  The  club  roll  is  already  full,  but  still  we  urge 
you  to  join  us.     If  you  have  not  united  with  any  club 
yet,  we  trust  we  may  put  your  name  on  our  list. 

4.  A  full  chorus  united  their  voices,  and  the  deep 
tones  surged  out  upon  an  enraptured  audience.     You 
would  have  applauded  with  us  had  you  been  there. 

5.  Could  you  put  the  child  into  his  buggy  and 
pull  him  through  the  gate  out  into  the  sun  ?     He 
has  urged  me  to  take  him. 

6.  It  is  true  that  you  sing  in  tune,  but  your  tones 
are  not  full  and  round.     You  hurt  your  voice  when 
you  sing  so  loud. 


The  Use  of  the  Dictionary.  77 

7.  Should  you   have    thought   that   Paul   would 
have  united  with  the   church  without  his  mother's 
knowledge  ?     I  suppose  he  wished  to  surprise  her. 

8.  Should  you  return  her  call  under  the  circum- 
stances ?     She  was  unusually  surly  about  our  euchre 
party. 

9.  Truly  Ruth's  curls  are  beautiful.     Her  blue 
eyes  are  so  full  of  sunny  laughter. 

10.  If  you  are  rude  and  do  not  study  your  lessons, 
I  shall  put  you  into  the  lower  grade. 

Mark  the  sounds  of  y  in  the  following  : 

1.  The  study  of  mythology  is  very  delightful. 

2.  What  a  mystery  there  is  about  my  lost  pin  ! 

3.  The  minister  lifted  his  eyes  to  the  ceiling  and 
chanted  the  hymn. 

4.  Are  you  trying  to  find  synonyms  ? 

5.  That  boy,  flying  the  kite,  has  my  sympathy. 

6.  Did  you  read  my  composition  about  the  "  Sea 
Nymphs  ?" 


CHAPTER    IX. 

WORDS. 

SUGGESTIONS   FOR   ACQUIRING   A   VOCABULARY. 

When  you  boys  and  girls  undertake  to  describe  something, 
or  to  discuss  some  subject,  you  are  apt  to  be  at  a  loss  for  words  ; 
apt  to  repeat  the  same  word  many  times  ;  to  use  words  that  do 
not  say  what  you  mean  to  say,  and  are  apt  to  connect  these 
vague  words  with  a  string  of  '  *  ands ' '  and  meaningless  ex- 
pressions such  as,  "and  then"  "  and  everything  like  that" 
etc.  Now  this  comes  not  so  much  from  a  lack  of  ideas  as  from 
a  lack  of  words  in  which  to  clothe  the  ideas. 

There  are  about  two  hundred  thousand  words  in  the  English 
language,  a  comparatively  small  proportion  of  which  are  used 
by  any  one  person.  Shakespeare's  vocabulary  numbered  only 
about  fifteen  thousand  words. 

The  Century  Dictionary  defines  the  word  vocabulary,  as  : 
"  The  sum  or  stock  of  words  employed  by  an  individual  in  his 
use  of  a  language."  His  vocabulary,  then,  represents  a  man's 
language  capital,  and  three  or  four  thousand  well-chosen 
words,  ready  at  command,  is  one  of  the  richest  investments  a 
man  can  make,  and  the  younger  he  is  when  he  begins  his 
accumulation  the  richer  he  will  be.  The  habit  of  careful 
word  study  which  Lincoln  acquired  in  boyhood  made  him  in 
later  years,  in  spite  of  his  lack  of  school  training,  a  master  of 
the  English  language. 

One's  success  in  life  depends  more  upon  his  command  of 
words  than  he  may  suppose.  A  good  vocabulary  gives  greater 
freedom  of  expression,  therefore  keener  possibilities  of  enjoy- 
ment, and  of  giving  pleasure.  A  ^^conversationalist  makes 

78 


Words.  79 

a  pleasant  companion.  A  good  conversationalist  does  not 
mean  a  great  talker,  it  means  a  good  talker, — one  who  uses 
the  right  word  in  the  right  place.  Conversationalists  are  not 
born,  they  are  made.  People  may  be  born  with  a  taste  for 
language,  but  the  ability  to  talk  or  write  well  is  gained  only 
by  patient  work,  and  this  ability  may  b  ,  gained  by  any  aver- 
age boy  or  girl  who  begins  early  in  life  to  cultivate  a  taste  for 
the  study  of  words. 


WAYS  TO  INCREASE  THE  VOCABULARY. 

Our  habits  of  speech  are  formed  largely  by  the  companions 
we  keep  and  the  books  we  read.  Then  to  form  a  good 
vocabulary : 

1.  Associate  with  people  who  are  careful  in  their  speech. 

2.  Read  books  containing  good  English. 

Read  not  alone  for  the  pleasure  of  the  story.  Even  children 
may  train  themselves  to  look  for  the  value  of  words  and  the 
beauty  of  expression  contained  in  the  books  they  read.  "  Dog 
of  Flanders,"  "  King  of  the  Golden  River,"  "Undine,"  and 
many  other  of  your  stories  are  marked  by  their  beauty  of 
style. 

3.  Do  not  pass  over  new  words  ;  seek  their  meaning ;  make 
an  effort  to  use  them.     In  time  they  will  become  part  of  your 
vocabulary. 

4.  Comprehend  the  meaning  of  a  word  before  you  use  it. 
(This  was  lyincoln's  rule.) 

5.  Possess  a  good  dictionary,  and  study  it. 


8o  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

MISUSE     OF     WORDS — INACCURACIES    OF    SPEECH,     EXTRAVA- 
GANCES,   ETC. 

It  is  to  be  questioned  if  a  boy  or  girl  who  forms  a  habit  of 
inaccurate  and  extravagant  speech  can  develop  into  a  perfectly 
reliable  business  man  or  woman.  There  certainly  is  no 
questioning  the  fact  that  a  training  in  accuracy  and  simplicity 
of  speech  will  develop  traits  of  honesty  and  directness,  which 
will  tend  to  make  a  man  or  woman  reliable  in  all  business 
transactions. 

L,et  us  look  at  some  of  the  mistakes  coming  under  the  head 
of  inaccuracies  and  extravagances.  L,ook  into  the  meaning  of 
some  of  the  words  contained  in  the  following  sentences. 

1.  Tom  is  mad  at  Mary  because  she  hid  his  hat. 

2.  I  had  a  horrible  time  at  the  picnic. 

3.  I  bet  a  million  dollars  I  can  ride  up  that  hill 
on  my  bicycle. 

4.  Mamma  gave  me  an  awfully  pretty  new  dress. 

5.  I  nearly  died  laughing  at  Tom's  antics. 

6.  Mary  has  a  horrid  hat. 

7.  I  had  an  elegant  time  at  the  party. 

8.  I  am  so  mad  at  my  sister  I  will  never  speak  to 
her  again. 

9.  I  think  that  picture  is  a  thousand  times  prettier 
than  the  other  one. 

10.  If  you  tell  another  funny  story  I  shall  die. 

In  the  first  sentence  let  us  look  up  the  word  mad.  Cen- 
tury Dictionary  defines  it  to  mean,  mentally  deranged  or 


Words.  8 1 

violently  insane.  If  this  sentence  is  accurate  in  its  state- 
ment— Tom  is  violently  insane  because  Mary  hid  his  hat, — 
surely  it  is  not  the  idea  intended.  Why  not  use  a  word  which 
more  accurately  expresses  Tom's  state  of  annoyance?  To 
say  that  Tom  was  angry  because  Mary  hid  his  hat  will  be 
equally  forceful  and  have  the  added  value  of  truthfulness. 

In  the  second  sentence  the  word  horrible  comes  from  the 
word  horror,  which  means  bristling  with  fear.  A  second 
meaning  is,  extremely  repulsive.  This  word  in  no  sense  ex- 
presses the  meaning  intended.  The  words  stupid,  uninter- 
esting, unpleasant,  tiresome,  would  offer  a  choice,  any  one  of 
which  would  convey  the  intended  idea. 

The  word  awfully  is  coming  so  commonly  to  be  used  to 
express  an  extreme  degree  that  it  bids  fair  in  time  to  be  recog- 
nized as  correctly  expressing  that  idea  ;  but  such  an  accept- 
ance is  equivalent  to  confessing  that  extravagance  and  slang 
are  to  be  sanctioned  as  good  English  ;  but  for  the  present 
awful  is  not  recognized  as  a  proper  synonym  for  very. 

Awful,  according  to  Century  Dictionary,  means  filled  with 
fear — a  fear  so  great  as  to  awaken  reverence;  and  the  literal 
meaning  of  this  sentence  is :  Mamma  gave  me  a  fearfully 
pretty  dress,  so  pretty  that  it  awakens  a  fear  and  reverence 
within  me. 

The  expressions  /  bet  a  million  dollars  in  sentence  3  ;  / 
nearly  died  laughing  in  sentence  5  ;  /  will  never  speak  to  her 
again  in  sentence  8  ;  and  /  shall  die  in  sentence  10,  are  all 
extravagances  which  miss  the  term  untruths  merely  in  that 
they  are  uttered  without  any  thought  of  being  believed. 
They  do  not  add  to  the  force  of  the  sentences  in  which  they 
appear,  and  are  the  result  of  a  poverty  of  vocabulary  which  is 
deplorable. 


82  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

If  its  language  is  in  any  degree  to  represent  the  character  of 
a  people,  such  expressions  must  speak  poorly  for  the  veracity 
of  our  nation. 

In  the  following  sentences  look  up  the  meaning  of  the 
italic  words  and  substitute  others  fitting  the  intended  idea. 
Reconstruct  the  sentence  if  necessary. 

0  mamma!    my    dress    is     just    too    sweet    for 
anything. 

1  was  terribly  low  in  my  examination  to-day. 

I  suspect  you  will  have  a  splendid  time  on  your 
sailing  trip. 

Professor  Rolf  gave  us  such,  a  nice  talk  on  the 
Vision  of  Sir  Launfal. 

What  perfectly  lovely  cake  your  mother  makes ! 

THE    POWER   OP  WORDS   TO   SUGGEST   PICTURES. 

Our  study  of  words  will  soon  teach  us  that  while  a  word 
may  identify  an  idea  it  cannot  awaken  in  any  two  minds  the 
same  mental  picture.  Aim  then  in  using  words  to  select  the 
one  best  fitted  to  name  your  idea  and  at  the  same  time  best 
adapted  to  awakening  in  the  mind  of  another  a  mental  image 
as  nearly  as  possible  corresponding  to  your  own. 

In  this  sentence — The  smell  of  violets  filled  the  room — the 
word  smell  names  the  idea,  but  is  this  word  qualified  to  suggest 
the  thought  intended  ? 

Smell,  odor,  scent,  fragrance,  any  one  of  these  four  words 
would  identify  the  idea,  but  when  we  wish  to  awaken  in 
another  mind  a  set  of  ideas  corresponding  to  our  own  we  find 
these  words  are  not  all  equally  adapted  to  our  use.  The  word 


Words.  83 

smell  will  not  do  because  it  is  more  often  associated  with 
unpleasant  odors  than  pleasing  ones.  It  would  be  correct  to 
say,  "A  smell  of  burnt  cabbage  filled  the  room."  It  is  also 
possible  for  the  word  odor  to  have  unpleasant  associations. 
Likewise  the  word  scent^  but  the  word  fragrance  is  always 
associated  with  pleasing  odors,  and  is  therefore  best  adapted 
to  convey  our  meaning  and  to  awaken  pleasant  images  in  the 
mind. 

The  idea  will  be  pleasantly  conveyed  in  the  sentence — The 
fragrance  of  violets  filled  the  room. 

6.  Cultivate  an  appreciation  for  words  which  are  beautiful 
in  sound  and  have  a  power  to  suggest  pleasant  thoughts. 

A  word  then  has  two  values :  First,  it  names  ;  second,  it 
suggests  a  mental  picture.  The  word  Christmas  names  the 
birthday  of  Christ,  and  stands  for  the  twenty-fifth  of  Decem- 
ber, but  what  pictures  does  the  word  suggest?  When  the 
word  is  mentioned  a  picture  of  Christmas  time  flashes  into  the 
mind.  Just  what  this  mental  picture  will  be  depends  upon 
the  individual  experiences  and  ideals  of  the  child  hearing  the 
word.  One  child  will  see  a  Christmas  tree,  with  a  jolly  old 
Santa  Claus  giving  presents  to  children  from  his  generous 
pack.  Another  will  see  a  row  of  well-filled  stockings  hanging 
before  the  chimney.  Another  will  see  the  table  spread  with 
Christmas  good  things — the  brown  turkey,  the  plum  pudding, 
the  nuts  and  candy — and  we  shall  have  as  many  different 
pictures  suggested  by  this  word  as  there  are  different  boys  and 
girls  with  their  different  experiences  and  conceptions;  but 
while  no  two  pictures  will  be  alike  in  detail  they  will  all  have 
much  in  common — the  spirit  of  Christmas  time  ;  the  joy  and 
good-will  which  belong  to  the  day,  will  be  suggested  to  all  by 
the  word. 


84  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

What  pictures  are  suggested  by  the  following  words  ? 

firelight  seaside  supper  time  grandma 

camping  riding  holidays         a  gun 

woods  winter  summer         mountains 

river  swimming         money  spring- 

Fourth  of  July  lady  gentleman     horse 

water  lilies        ferns  dog  doll 

bedtime  Thanksgiving  my  birthday  sunrise 

starlight  roar  thunder         sparkling 

shimmering  twinkling          whirl  skimming 

faraway  dune  croon  fleecy 

drifting  father  mother 


In  the  following  extract  from  the  ' '  Jungle  Book ' '  notice 
Kipling's  choice  of  words.  Make  a  list  of  the  words  you 
think  particularly  well  chosen.  Select  words  from  other  parts 
of  the  ''Jungle  Book." 

He  turned  twice  or  thrice  in  a  big  circle  weaving 
his  head  from  right  to  left.  Then  he  began  making 
loops  and  figures  of  eight  with  his  body,  and  soft  oozy 
triangles  that  melted  into  squares  and  five-sided 
figures,  and  coiled  mounds,  never  resting,  never 
hurrying,  and  never  stopping  his  low  humming 
song.  It  grew  darker  and  darker,  till  at  last  the 
dragging,  shifting  coils  disappeared,  but  they  could 
hear  the  rustle  of  the  scales. 

Kaa's  Hunting. 


Words.  85 

Rikki-tikki  smashed  two  eggs,  and  tumbled  back- 
ward down  the  melon  bed  with  the  third  egg  in  his 
mouth,  and  scuttled  to  the  veranda  as  hard  as  he 
could  put  foot  to  the  ground.  Teddy  and  his  mother 
and  father  were  there  at  early  breakfast,  but  Rikki- 
tikki  saw  that  they  were  not  eating  anything.  They 
sat  stone-still,  and  their  faces  were  white.  Nagaina 
was  coiled  on  the  matting  by  Teddy's  chair,  within 
easy  striking  distance  of  Teddy's  bare  legs,  and  she 
was  swaying  to  and  fro  singing  a  song  of  triumph. 

Rikki-tikki-tari. 

Bring  in  from  the  story  you  are  reading  at  home  a  list  of 
ten  of  the  best-used  words  you  can  find. 

What  picture  is  suggested  by  the  following  stanzas  ?  What 
do  the  italic  words  say  to  you  ? 

u  Hail !  to  thee,  blithe  spirit! 

Bird  thou  never  wert, 

That  from  heaven  or  near  it, 

Pourest  thy  full  heart 

In  profuse  strains  of  unpremeditated  art." 

Higher  still  and  higher 
From  the  earth  thou  springest 
Like  a  cloud  of  fire. 
The  blue  depths  thou  wingest^ 
And  singing  still  doth  soar 

And  soaring  ever  singeth. 

— SHKU.EY. 


86  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

What  do  the  italic  words  in  the  following  lines  suggest 
to  you  ? 

44  Loud  from  its  rocky  cavern,  the  deep-voiced  neigh- 
boring ocean 

Speaks,  and  in  accents  disconsolate  answers  the 
wail  of  the  forest"  —  LONGFEW.OW. 

In  the  following  extract  from  Tennyson's  poem,  "The 
I,ady  of  Shalott,"  note  the  choice  of  words — how  fitted  they 
are  to  express  the  ideas  for  which  they  stand.  Notice  how  the 
words  dusk  and  shiver  suggest  the  motion  of  the  little  waves. 

Willows  whiten,  aspens  quiver, 

Little  breezes  dusk  and  shiver, 

Thro'  the  wave  that  runs  forever 

By  the  island  in  the  river, 

Flowing  down  to  Camelot. 

Four  gray  walls,  and  four  gray  towers, 

Overlook  a  space  of  flowers, 

And  the  silent  isle  embowers 

The  Lady  of  Shalott. 

By  the  margin,  willow-veiled, 

Slide  the  heavy  barges  trail1  d 

By  slow  horses ;  and  unhaiPd 

The  shallop  flittelh,  silken-sair  d, 

Skimming  down  to  Camelot. 

In  the  last  five  lines  note   the  contrasts  between  the  words 
heavy  barges  and  silken- sail?  d  shallop,  between  slide 
slow  and  skimming,  traiV  d  and  unhaiV  d. 


Words.  87 

Select  from  the  following  lines  the  words  best  qualified  to 
bring  out  the  thought.     Tell  what  they  suggest  to  you  . 

u  In  the  street  I  heard  a  thumping,  and  I  knew  it 

was  the  stumping 
Of  the   Corporal,  our  old  neighbor,  on  the  wooden 

leg  he  wore."  -HOLMES. 

.  The  little  bird  sits  at  his  door  in  the  sun, 
A-tilt  like  a  blossom  among  the  leaves, 
And  lets  his  illumined  being  o'errun 
With  the  deluge  of  summer  it  receives. 

— LOWELL. 

The  crows  flapped  over  by  twos  and  threes, 
In  the  pool  drowsed  the  cattle  up  to  their  knees. 

— LOWELL. 

The  drawbridge  dropped  with  a  surly  clang, 
And  through  the  dark  arch  a  charger  sprang. 

LOWELL. 

Waste  are  those  pleasant  farms,  and  the  farmers  for- 
ever departed  ! 

Scattered  like  dust  and  leaves,  when  the  mighty 
blasts  of  October 

Seize  them,  and  whirl  them  aloft,  and  sprinkle  them 
far  o'er  the  ocean.  —LONGFELLOW. 

And  far  across  the  hills  they  went,  beyond  the  utmost 
purple  rim, 

And  deep  into  the  dying  day,  the  happy  princess 
followed  him.  —TENNYSON. 


Lessons  in  Language   Work. 


Describe  a  morning  walk,  choosing  from  the  following 
words.  Look  up  all  words  of  which  you  are  not  sure  of  the 
meaning. 

meadow  lark  hum  of  bees 

daffodils  fleecy  clouds 

golden  peaceful 

breeze  song 

mountains  squirrel 

long  stretches  chipmunk 

sand  dunes  river 

purple  winding 

sheen  fields 


ocean 

sparkling 

trees 

far  away 

poppies 

calm 

overhanging 

baby  blue  eyes 

buttercups 

clear 

blossoms 

linnet 


waving  gram 

fragrant 

busy  ants 

roadside 

sunlight 

shadows 

wading 

cattle 

bending  branches 

green  meadows 

perfume  or  fragrance 


Words.  89 

Describe  an  evening  walk,  choosing  from  the  following 
words : 

peaceful  ocean 

moonlight,  roar 

insects  violets 

myriads  orange  blossoms 

stir  trees 

night  owl  dense 

heavens  foliage 

stars  or  starry  sounds 

the  hush  the  stillness 

shadows  lights 

perfume  or  fragrance       goodness 
reflected  serenity 

the  water  peace 

Give  in  this  description  the  effect  produced  upon  you  of 
going  alone  out  into  the  night. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE    PARAGRAPH. 

When  you  children  select  a  book  for  reading  you  open  it, 
examine  the  pages  and  look  to  see  if  ' '  it  is  made  up  of  con- 
versations. "  If  the  pages  are  covered  with  short  sentences, 
broken  paragraphs,  and  dotted  with  quotation  marks  you 
decide  that  the  book  may  be  worth  reading.  You  prefer 
stories  in  which  the  characters  are  made  to  talk  and  act,  and 
are  inclined  to  skip  the  long  paragraphs  devoted  to  description 
and  moralizing. 

The  short  paragraph  lends  itself  more  readily  to  conversation 
than  the  long  paragraph. 

It  is  the  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  study  how  paragraphs 
are  made.  The  paragraph  bears  the  same  relation  to  the 
sentence  that  the  sentence  bears  to  the  word,  and,  as  the  well- 
constructed  sentence  may  be  reduced  to  a  single  thought 
centered  in  the  subject  and  predicate,  so  may  a  well- 
constructed  paragraph  be  reduced  to  a  topic  sentence  contain- 
ing the  central  thought  of  the  paragraph. 

A  composition  consists  of  a  series  of  paragraphs  closely 
related  to  one  another  and  all  bearing  upon  one  central 
thought. 

RULES. 

A  paragraph  may  be  a  complete  composition  in  itself,  and 
as  such  we  shall  study  it. 

1.  Avoid  using  in  a  sentence  a  word  which  does  not  relate 
to  the  thought  of  the  sentence. 

2.  Avoid  using  in  a  paragraph  a  sentence  which  does  not 
relate  to  the  central  thought  of  the  paragraph. 

3.  Carefully  arrange  the  sentences  of  the  paragraph  that 
they  may  bear  the  right  relation  to  the  central  thought. 

90 


The  Paragraph.  91 

4.  Arrange  the  paragraph  so  that  it  is  introduced  by  a 
sentence  which  will  awaken  interest — often  we  find  this  first 
sentence  to  contain  the  topic  of  the  paragraph, — and  close  it 
with  a  sentence  which  will  finish  the  paragraph  by  summing 
up  its  thought. 

CORRECT  ARRANGEMENT  OF  SENTENCES. 

The  clearness  of  a  sentence  depends  upon  the  arrangement 
of  the  different  words,  phrases  and  clauses  which  go  to  the 
making  up  of  the  sentence.  Care  should  be  taken  to  relate 
the  modifiers  of  a  sentence  to  the  words  which  they  modify. 

Correct  the  following  : 

He  put  the  letter  into  the  box  which  he  had  carried 
in  his  pocket  for  a  week. 

He  gave  the  little  girl  a  doll  who  was  crying  for 
her  mother. 

They  kept  a  piece  of  their  wedding  cake  in  a 
drawer  done  up  in  tissue  paper. 

The  girl  sang  a  song  at  the  concert  wearing  a 
white  dress. 

It  would  be  an  accommodation  if  you  would  send 
me  five  dollars  the  amount  due  for  the  making  of  the 
dress  or  you  may  hand  the  money  to  my  brother. 

There  was  but  one  rocking-chair  in  the  room 
which  Rose  made  a  habit  of  monopolizing  first. 

At  twenty-five  the  mother  took  her  daughter 
abroad. 

A  low  phaeton  is  comfortable  for  old  ladies  having 
easy  springs  and  being  easy  to  alight  from. 


92  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

A  young  girl  gave  me  these  flowers  who  left  with- 
out a  word. 

I  sent  a  box  of  candy  to  the  little  girl  tied  up  with 
baby  ribbon. 

I  gave  my  doll  to  Harry  that  has  a  broken  head . 

She  told  the  girl  she  should  stop  sewing. 

The  girl  appeared  before  a  stranger  in  a  torn  dress 
and  bare-headed. 

Uncle  gave  a  beautiful  dog  to  Harry  because  he  is 
gentle. 

PARAGRAPH    BUILDING. 

"  Harry,  Dick  ancj  I  went  out  to  Ocean  Beach  Sat- 
urday." • 

I,et  us  take  this  sentence  for  a  topic  sentence,  and,  by 
relating  other  sentences  to  it,  expand  it  into  a  paragraph. 
We  might  expand  this  sentence  in  many  ways.  We  might 
describe  the  beach,  or  the  day,  or  we  might  narrate  some 
incident  related  to  the  day.  Suppose  we  try  the  latter  scheme, 
and  add  the  sentence — "We  met  an  old  fisherman  out  there," 
and  to  make  the  incident  of  more  interest,  and  relate  it  more 
closely  to  the  central  thought,  we'll  add  the  clause— "who 
took  us  fishing  in  his  boat."  The  interest  will  be  increased 
still  more  and  the  topic  sentence  further  expanded  by  adding 
another  incident  in  the  sentence — "  Harry  caught  a  big  fish," 
and  again  the  clause — "and  when  we  came  ashore  we  made  a 
fire,  cooked  our  fish  and  ate  lunch."  We  shall  end  the 
paragraph  with  a  sentence  which,  in  a  way,  sums  up  the 
whole  day's  pleasure  in  the  words — "  We  had  a  fine  time." 


The  Paragraph.  93 

This  paragraph  follows  the  rule  which  governs  a  well- 
constructed  paragraph — 

1.  It  has  one  central  thought. 

2.  It  begins  with  a  sentence  which  attracts  the  attention — 
this  time  the  topic  sentence. 

3.  It  ends  with  a  sentence  which  is  a  summing  up  of  the 
paragraph. 

The  paragraph  reads  : 

Harry,  Dick  and  I  went  out  to  Ocean  Beach  Sat- 
urday. We  met  an  old  fisherman  out  there  who  took 
us  fishing  in  his  boat.  Harry  caught  a  big  fish,  and 
when  we  came  ashore  we  made  a  fire,  cooked  our  fish 
and  ate  lunch.  We  had  a  fine  time. 

"  Grandma  gave  me  the  goods  for  a  new  dress. " 

We'll  take  this  topic  sentence  and  expand  it  into  a  par- 
agraph by  means  of  sentences  which  relate  to  the  central 
thought  by  describing  the  subject  of  the  paragraph. 

We  will  add  to  the  topic  sentence  a  sentence  which  will  give 
a  detail  of  the  dress — "  It  is  white  dimity."  We  will  further 
expand  the  subject  by  adding  the  clause — "and  mamma  is 
making  it  so  pretty."  We  will  go  into  further  detail  by 
describing  the  making  of  the  dress  in  the  sentence — "She  is 
putting  three  little  ruffles  edged  with  Valenciennes  lace  at  the 
bottom  of  the  skirt,  and  is  making  the  waist  with  a  yoke  of 
dainty  tucks  and  lace  insertion."  We  end  our  paragraph 
with  a  sentence  giving  a  new  interest — "  Mamma  says  I  may 
wear  it  next  Sunday." 


94  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Finished,  the  paragraph  reads  : 

Grandma  gave  me  goods  for  a  new  dress.  It  is 
white  dimity,  and  mamma  is  making  it  so  pretty. 
She  is  putting  three  little  rnffles  edged  with 
Valenciennes  lace  at  the  bottom  of  the  skirt,  and  is 
making  the  waist  with  a  yoke  of  dainty  tncks  and 
lace  insertion.  Mamma  says  I  may  wear  it  next 
Sunday. 

Sometimes  Louise  has  seen  the  quails  going  out  for 
a  walk. 

This  topic  sentence  we  shall  expand  into  a  paragraph  by 
means  of  sentences  describing  in  detail  the  subject  of  the 
paragraph — '  'The  mother  with  her  seven  babies  all  tripping 
primly  along  behind  her. ' '  A  further  detail  goes  into  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  birds. 

"The  wee,  brown  birds,  and  all  running  helter-shelter,  in  a 
minute,  if  they  hear  a  noise  among  the  bushes,  and  hiding 
each  one  his  head  under  a  broad  leaf,  thinking,  poor  little 
foolish  things,  that  no  one  can  see  them." 

Finished,  this  reads  : 

Sometimes  Louise  has  seen  the  quails  going  out 
for  a  walk:  the  mother  with  her  seven  babies  all 
tripping  primly  along  behind  her,  the  wee,  brown 
birds,  and  all  running  helter-skelter,  in  a  minute,  if 
they  hear  a  noise  among  the  bushes, and  hiding  each 
one  his  head  under  a  broad  leaf,  thinking,  poor  little 
foolish  things,  that  no  one  can  see  them. 

— H.  H.  JACKSON. 


The  Paragraph.  95 

The  arrangement  of  the  sentences  has  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  the  meaning  of  the  paragraph,  just  as  the  meaning  of  the 
sentence  depends  upon  the  arrangement  of  the  words  of  which 
it  is  composed,  so  the  meaning  of  the  paragraph  depends  upon 
the  arrangement  of  the  sentences  composing  it. 

Are  the  following  sentences  arranged  in  the  best  order  to 
express  the  thought  of  the  paragraph  ? 

1.  The  water  now  poured  into  it. 

2.  Every  one  called  for  help,  and  each  thought 
only  of  saving  his  own  life. 

3.  The  sailors  cried  out,  "  The  ship  has  sprung  a 
leak!" 

4.  Then  all  at  once  we  felt  a  fearful  shock ;  the 
vessel  had  struck  a  rock. 

Try  the  effect  of  beginning  with  the  third  sentence. 

The  sailors  cried  out,  "  The  vessel  has  sprung  a 
leak !  "  Then  all  at  once  we  felt  a  fearful  shock ; 
the  vessel  had  struck  a  rock.  The  water  now  poured 
into  it.  Every  one  called  for  help,  and  each  thought 
only  of  saving  his  own  life. 

— ROBINSON  CRUSOB. 

Select  the  topic  sentence  and  group  the  other  sentences 
about  it  so  as  best  to  bring  out  the  central  thought : 

1.  It  had  a  calm,  contented  air  about  it. 

2.  It  was  a  long,  sinewy  looking  beast. 

3.  It  had  lost  half  its  tail,  one  of  its  ears,  and  a 
fairly  appreciable  proportion  of  the  nose. 


96  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

4.  I  never  saw  a  larger  cat,  nor  a  more  disreputa- 
ble looking  cat. 

5.  His  victim  was  a  large  black  cat. 

— From  Jerome  K.  Jerome. 

Condense  each  of  the  following  paragraphs  to  its  topic  or 
thought  sentence,  and  tell  how  each  of  the  other  sentences  of 
the  paragraph  expand  the  thought. 

It  was  not  really  very  far  to  the  dining-room,  but 
it  seemed  rather  a  long  way  to  Cedric  before  they 
reached  the  chair  at  the  head  of  the  table.  The  hand 
on  his  shoulder  seemed  to  grow  heavier  at  every  step, 
and  his  face  grew  redder  and  hotter,  and  his  breath 
shorter,  but  he  never  thought  of  giving  up;  he 
stiffened  his  childish  muscles,  held  his  head  erect, 

and  encouraged  the  Earl  as  he  limped  along. 

— LORD  FAUNTXEROY. 

In  learning  to  write  well  our  first  rule  is :  Know 
what  you  want  to  say.  The  second  rule  is :  Say  it. 
That  is,  do  not  begin  by  saying  something  else  which 
you  think  will  lead  up  to  what  you  want  to  say.  I 
remember  when  they  tried  to  teach  me  to  sing  they 
told  me  u  to  think  of  eight  and  sing  seven."  That 
may  be  a  very  good  rule  for  singing,  but  it  is  not  a 

good  rule  for  talking  or  writing. 

— E.  B.  HAI,E. 

Select  the  topic  sentence  from  each  of  the  following  para- 
graphs, and  tell  how  each  of  the  other  sentences  of  the 
paragraph  expand  the  topic  sentence. 


The  Paragraph.  97 

ARRANGED   FROM   ERNEST   SETON   THOMPSON'S 
ANIMALS   I   HAVE   KNOWN." 


Down  the  wooded  slope  of  Taylor's  Hill  the 
Mother  Partridge  led  her  brood  ;  down  toward  the 
crystal  brook  that  by  some  strange  whim  was  called 
Mud  Creek,  Her  little  ones  were  one  day  old  but 
already  quick  on  foot,  and  she  was  taking  them  for 
the  first  time  to  drink. 

The  sun  was  hot  now.  There  was  an  open  space 
to  cross  on  the  road  to  the  water,  and,  after  a  careful 
lookout  for  enemies,  the  mother  gathered  the  little 
things  under  the  shadow  of  her  spread  fantail  and 
kept  off  all  danger  of  sunstroke  until  they  reached 
the  brier  thicket  by  the  stream. 

Here  a  cottontail  rabbit  leaped  out  and  gave  them 
a  great  scare.  But  the  flag  of  truce  he  carried 
behind  was  enough.  He  was  an  old  friend;  and 
among  other  things  the  little  ones  learned  that 
day  that  Bunny  always  sails  under  a  flag  of  truce, 
and  lives  up  to  it,  too. 

At  first  the  little  fellows  didn't  know  how  to  drink, 
but  they  copied  their  mother,  and  soon  learned  to 
drink  like  her  and  give  thanks  after  every  sip. 
There  they  stood  in  a  row  along  the  edge,  twelve 
little  brown  and  golden  balls  on  twenty-four  little 
pink-toed,  in-turned  feet,  with  twelve  sweet  little 


98  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

golden  heads  gravely  bowing,  drinking  and  giving 
thanks  like  their  mother. 

Meanwhile,  the  strange  bob-tailed  fox  came  under 
the  tree  and  yapped  and  yapped  at  them.  They  were 
much  amused  at  him  and  at  their  mother  and 
brothers,  so  much  so  that  they  never  noticed  a 
rustling  in  the  bushes  till  there  was  a  loud,  bang ! 
bang  !  and  down  fell  two  bloody,  flopping  partridges, 
to  be  seized  and  mangled  by  the  yellow  cur  until  the 
gunner  ran  from  the  bushes  and  rescued  the  remains. 

Brownie  was  a  bright  little  mother  of  small  stature, 
but  keen  of  wit  and  sense,  and  was,  night  and  day, 
alert  to  care  for  her  darling  chicks.  How  proudly 
she  stepped  and  clucked  through  the  arching  woods 
with  her  dainty  brood  behind  her ;  how  she  strained 
her  little  brown  tail  almost  to  a  half  circle  to  give 
them  a  broader  shade,  and  never  flinched  at  sight  of 
any  foe,  but  held  ready  to  fight  or  fly,  whichever 
seemed  the  best  for  her  little  ones. 

This  gunner  brute  knew  the  young  must  be  hiding 
near,  so  looked  about  to  find  them.  But  no  one 
moved  or  peeped.  He  saw  not  one,  but  as  he  tramped 
about,  with  heedless,  hateful  feet,  he  crossed  and 
crossed  again  their  hiding  place,  and  more  than  one 
of  the  silent  little  sufferers  he  trampled  to  death,  and 
neither  knew  nor  cared. 


The  Paragraph*  99 

Redruff  had  taken  the  yellow  brute  away  off  down- 
stream, and  now  returned  to  where  he  left  his  mate. 

The  murderer  had  gone,  taking  her  remains  to  be 
thrown  to  the  dog.  Redruff  sought  about  and  found 
the  bloody  spot  with  feathers — Brownie's  feathers, — 
scattered  around,  and  now  he  knew  the  meaning  of 
that  shot. 

Expand  the  following  topic  sentences  into  paragraphs  by 
describing  the  central  thoughts  : 

There  is  a  river  running  through  my  uncle's  farm. 

How  lovely  the  bay  was  last  night  with  the  moon- 
light shining  upon  it ! 

Yesterday  I  went  to  the  circus. 

Saturday  Mead  and  I  rowed  over  to  North  Island. 

The  Chinaman  who  brings  our  clothes  is — 

The  sun  was  just  peeping  over  the  hills  as — 

Have  you  seen  the  old  scissors  grinder  ? 

The  boat  floated  down  past  a  little  wooded  island. 

The  view  from  this  window  is  beautiful. 

The  word  Christmas  suggests  to  me — 

The  word  Thanksgiving  suggests  to  me — 

The  words  Fourth  of  July  suggest  to  me — 

My  dog  is  a  knowing  fellow. 

Our  sitting-room  is  the  pleasantest  room  in  the 
house. 

Basket  ball  is  a  game  that — 


ioo  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Football  is  a  favorite  college  game. 
Our  schoolroom  is  very  homelike. 
We  boys  have  a  new  tennis  court. 

Expand  the  following  topic  sentences  by  narrating  some 
incident  relating  to  the  topic  : 

The  finest  thing  I  ever  knew  a  boy  to  do — 

I  had  an  accident  with  my  wheel  this  morning. 

Something  fnnny  happened  at  school  to-day. 

This  summer  we  went  camping. 

I  think  you  would  enjoy  hearing  something  abont 
the  concert. 

The  clown  did  something  very  funny  at  the  circus. 

A  horse  is  a  very  knowing  animal. 

We  boys  had  fun  last  night. 

We  boys  had  an  accident  yesterday. 

I  had  to  keep  house  last  week  while  mother  was 
away. 

I  earned  twenty-five  cents  yesterday. 

Mamma  says  that  when  she  was  a  little  girl — 

Last  night  we  girls  had  a  fine  time  playing  cha- 
rades. 

The  finest  man  I  ever  knew. 

The  largest  house  I  ever  saw. 

Did  you  ever  see  men  harvesting  wheat  ? 

My  father  gave  me  a  new  knife. 

Last  Saturday  father  and  I  went  fishing. 


The  Paragraph.  101 

My  grandma  knows  how  to  treat  boys. 

Mother  gave  me  a  beautiful  doll. 

I  am  going  to  tell  you  about  my  pet. 

Did  you  ever  watch  an  old  mother  monkey  play 
with  a  baby  monkejr  ? 

The  clouds  last  night  were  beautiful. 

This  morning,  as  I  was  coming  to  school,  I  saw  an 
army  of  ants — 

Our  house  is  a  very  lonely  place  when  mother 
goes  away. 

I  like  to  watch  mother  make  cake. 

Our  baby  is  very  cunning. 

Do  you  know  the  man  who  keeps  our  corner 
grocery  ? 

Did  you  ever  watch  an  old  hen  with  a  brood  of 
young  chickens  ? 

A  horse  is  a  fine  animal. 

My  idea  of  a  gentlemanly  boy  is, — 

I  think  she  is  the  brightest  girl  in  the  class,  but — 

Nearly  every  boy  means  to  be  a  gentleman,  but — 

Last  night  I  saw  a  beautiful  picture. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

WRITTEN    COMPOSITION. 

The  reading  lesson  may  be  the  basis  of  composition,  also 
the  Science  Lesson  and  the  History  Lesson. 

Using  the  Science  Lesson  as  the  basis  : 

Write  a  story  about  a  little  boy  who  would  not  work.  His 
godmother  sends  him  abroad,  and  tells  him  he  may  have  power 
to  talk  to  the  plant  world,  and  he  may  learn  of  them  their 
habits.  When  he  finds  one  who  does  nothing,  he  may  be  idle 
too.  Let  him  visit  the  violet,Eschscholtzia  (California  poppy) , 
the  bean,  corn,  and  describe  their  mode  of  growth.  Illustrate 
by  drawings. 

Write  the  biography  of  a  spider,  having  the  spider  tell  all 
you  know  of  his  organs,  his  habits  and  his  use. 

Write  the  biography  of  the  grasshopper  ;  of  the  butterfly. 
Illustrate  by  drawings. 

Using  History  as  a  basis  : 

Write  from  Coffin's  "Boys  of  '76,"  the  story  of  the  Battle 
of  Bunker  Hill. 

Tell  "  Grandmother's  Story." — Holmes. 

Tell  the  story  of  "  Paul  Revere' s  Ride. "—Longfellow. 

Tell  the  story  of  "A  Man  Without  a  Country." —Hale. 

Tell  what  you  know  about  the  life  of  Washington. 

Tell  what  you  know  about  the  life  of  Lincoln. 

Kmerson  said  of  Lincoln  : 
"  His  heart  is  as  large  as  the  world, 

But  in  it   there  is  no   room  for  the  memory  of  a 
wrong. " 

What  do  you  think  of  these  lines  as  a  tribute  to  Lincoln's 
character  ? 

102 


Written  Composition.  103 

DEVELOPMENT. 
Exercise  for  Developing  the  Imagination. 

Note  to  Teacher. 

(Have  pupils  tell  similar  stories.  L,ead  them  to  give  life  to 
the  flowers  by  giving  them  a  language.  Cultivate  tenderness 
by  imaginary  talks  with  the  birds  and  insects.) 

CHRISTINE   BRAIBRY. 

The  beautiful  dolly  who  comes  from  Tentoleena  L,and, 
bringing  a  strange  letter. 

THE  LETTER. 

This  little  dolly's  name  is  Christine  Braibry.  She 
was  born  in  Tentoleena  Land,  where  lilies  and  red 
roses  grow  in  the  air,  and  humming  birds  and  butter- 
flies on  stalks. 

You  must  be  kind  to  Christine,  for  everything 
about  her  in  your  land  will  be  very  strange  to  her. 
If  she  seems  to  stare  in  a  bewildered  way,  and  will 
not  answer  when  you  ask  her  why,  you  must  know 
that  she  is  simply  dazed  with  the  wonders  that  she 
sees  on  every  hand.  It  will  doubtless  be  a  long, 
long  while  before  Christine  will  cease  to  marvel  at 
the  sunshine  of  your  strange  country,  for  in  Tento- 
leena Land  there  is  never  any  shine,  but  moon- 
shine, and  sometimes  that  gets  so  muddled  up  with 
shade  it  soils  the  eyesight  to  gaze  at  it  overmuch. 

It  will  be  trying,  in  your  land,  for  Christine  to 


104  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

keep  silent  all  the  time,  for  in  your  country  dollies 
cannot  walk  and  talk  at  all  perfectly,  because  they 
only  think  they  are  dreaming  all  the  time,  and  they 
dare  not  speak  for  fear  their  voices  will  awaken  them, 
and  they  dare  not  move  for  fear  of  falling  out  of  bed. 
So,  you  see,  you  should  be  very  kind  indeed  to  little 
Christine  Braibry. 

In  Tentoleena  Land  the  dollies  do  not  sleep  long — 
they  are  always  the  first  ones  up  at  moon-dawn,  for 
moon-dawn  is  the  dollies'  morning.  Then  they 
go  out  in  the  fragrant  grasses,  where  the  big, 
ripe  dewdrops  grow — much  nicer,  purer  dew  than 
yours  on  earth,  for  in  Tentoleena  Land  they  gather 
it  before  it  has  been  skimmed,  and  all  the  pearly 
cream  that  gathers  on  the  surface  of  the  drops  they 
stir  up  with  the  rest  and  bathe  in  that ;  and  this  is 
why  the  dollies  always  have  such  delicate  com- 
plexions. Then,  when  the  baths  are  over,  they  dress 
themselves,  and  waken  up  their  parents,  and  dress 
them — for  in  Tentoleena  Land  the  parents  are  the 
children.  Is  not  that  odd  ? 

Some  time  Christine  may  get  used  to  your  strange 
land  and  all  the  wonders  that  she  sees  ;  and  if  she 
ever  does,  and  smiles  at  you,  and  pulls  your  face 
down  close  to  hers  and  kisses  you,  why  that  will  be 
the  sign  by  which  you'll  know  she's  coming  to  again 


Written  Composition.  105 

and  wants  to  talk ;  and  so  the  first  thing  you  must 
ask  of  her  to  sing  this  little  song  she  made  of 
Tentoleena  Land.  Only  the  words  of  it  can  be  given 
here  (not  half  the  beauty  of  the  dainty  song),  for 
when  you  hear  it,  in  the  marvelously  faint,  and  low, 
and  sweet,  and  tender,  tinkling  tongue  of  Tentoleena 
Land  you  will  indeed  be  glad  that  the  gracious  fairy 
Fortune  ever  sent  you  Christine  Braibry. 

So,  since  all  the  sounds  in  the  melodious  utterance 
of  Tentoleena  Land  are  so  exquisitely — so  chastely, 
rarely  beautiful  no  earthly  art  may  hope  to  reproduce 
them,  you  must,  as  you  here  read  the  words,  just 
shut  your  eyes  and  fancy  that  you  hear  little 
Christine  Braibry  singing  the  eerie  song  of  hers  : 

CHRISTINE'S  SONG. 

Up  in  Tentoleena  Land — 

Tentoleena !     Tentoleena ! 
All  the  Dollies,  hand  in  hand, 

Mina,  Wainie,  and  Serena, 
Dance  the  fairy  fancy  dances, 
With  glad  songs  and  starry  glances, 
Lisping  roundelays ;  and,  after, 
Bird-like  interludes  of  laughter 
Strewn  and  scattered  o'er  the  lawn 
Their  gilt  sandals  twinkle  on 


io6  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Through  light  mists  of  silver  sand — 

Up  in  Tentoleena  Land. 
Up  in  Tentoleena  Land — 

Tentoleena !    Tentoleena ! 
Blares  the  eerie  Elfin  band — 

Trumpet,  harp  and  concertina — 
Larkspur  bugle-honeysuckle 
Cornet,  with  a  quickstep  chuckle 
In  its  golden  throat ;  and,  maybe, 
Lilies-of-the-valley  they  be 
Baby-silver-bells  that  chime 
Musically  all  the  time, 
Tossed  about  from  hand  to  hand — 

Up  in  Tentoleena  Land. 
Up  in  Tentoleena  Land — 

Tentoleena !   Tentoleena  ! 
Dollies  dark,  and  blond  and  bland — 

Sweet  as  muskrose  or  verbena — 
Sweet  as  moon-blown  daffodillies, 
Or  wave-jostled  water  lilies 
Yearning  toward  the  rose  mouths,  ready 
Leaning  o'er  the  river's  eddy, — 
Dance,  and  glancing  fling  to  you, 
Through  these  lines  you  listen  to, 
Kisses  blown  from  lip  and  hand 

Out  of  Tentoleena  Land. 

—JAMES  W.  RII,EY. 


Written  Composition.  107 

Write  the  stories  and  illustrate. 

1.  High  diddle,  diddle,  the  cat  and  the  fiddle, 
The  cow  jumped  over  the  moon  ; 

The  little  dog  laughed  to  see  such  sport, 
And  the  dish  ran  away  with  the  spoon. 

2.  Jack  and  Jill 
Went  up  the  hill 

To  draw  a  pail  of  water ; 

Jack  fell  down,  and  broke  his  crown, 

And  Jill  came  tumbling  after. 

3.  Hark !  Hark !  the  dogs  do  bark, 
The  beggars  are  coming  to  town, 
Some  in  tags,  some  in  rags, 
And  some  in  velvet  gowns. 

Describe  Mother  Goose  and  her  family,  Jack  Horner,  Sam 
Slick,  Jack-be-Nimble,  and  all  the  others  you  can  remember. 

4.  Mabel's  mother  gave  her  ten  cents  for  washing 
the  dishes. 

Write  a  story  telling  what  Mabel  did  with  the  money. 

5.  One  Saturday  Robin's  mother  told  him  she 
would  give  him  twenty-five  cents  if  he  would  clean 
up  the  back  yard,  and  that  when  he  had  finished  he 
might  have  the,  rest  of  the  day  for  a  holiday. 

Tell  what  Robin  did  with  his  money,  and  how  he  spent  the 
day. 


io8  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

REPRODUCTION. 
(Arranged  from  Stickney's  Reader. ) 

Harry's  aunt  made  him  a  present  of  two  doves. 
Harry  was  delighted,  and  soon  had  a  pretty  little 
house  built  for  them. 

Harry's  mother  and  father  insisted  that  he  must 
not  neglect  them,  and  that  he  must  see  that  his  birds 
were  given  food  and  water. 

At  first,  Harry  attended  to  the  birds  regularly,  but 
after  a  time  he  became  careless  of  their  comfort, 
and,  unless  his  mother  reminded  him  continually, 
neglected  them. 

One  day  Harry's  mother  gave  him  five  cents,  and 
told  him  to  buy  some  seed  for  his  doves,  they  were 
hungry  and  must  be  fed.  Harry  started  off  down 
street,  intending  to  buy  seed,  and  return  and  feed  the 
doves ;  but  on  the  way  he  met  some  boys  and  joined 
them  in  a  game  of  marbles.  Playing  for  "  keeps,"  he 
lost  ten  marbles,  and,  as  he  did  not  have  them,  he 
took  the  five  cents  and  bought  the  marbles. 

That  night,  when  Harry  returned,  he  found  that 
one  of  his  doves  had  died  from  neglect,  and  his 
mother  had  given  the  other  to  Jimmy  Brown,  a 
neighbor  boy,  who  was  always  kind  to  animals. 

What  do  you  think  about  Harry  ?  Do  you  think  Harry's 
mother  did  right  to  give  his  dove  away  without  consulting 
him  ?  Give  reasons  for  your  opinion. 


Written  Composition.  109 

THE   SINGING   LESSON. 

A  nightingale  made  a  mistake. 
She  sang  a  few  notes  out  of  tune. 
Her  heart  was  ready  to  break, 
And  she  hid  away  from  the  moon ; 
And  wrung  her  claws,  poor  thing ! 
But  was  far  too  proud  to  speak. 
She  tucked  her  head  under  her  wing, 
And  pretended  to  be  asleep. 

A  lark,  arm  in  arm  with  a  thrush, 
Came  sauntering  up  to  the  place. 
The  nightingale  felt  herself  blush, 
Though  feathers  hid  her  face. 
She  knew  they  had  heard  her  song ; 
She  felt  them  snicker  and  sneer  ; 
She  thought  that  life  was  too  long, 
And  wished  she  could  skip  a  year. 

"  O  nightingale !"  cooed  a  dove  ; 
"  O  nightingale !  what  is  the  use  ? 

You  bird  of  beauty  and  love, 

Why  behave  like  a  goose ! 

Don't  sulk  away  from  our  sight 

Like  a  common  contemptible  fowl. 

You  bird  of  joy  and  delight, 

Why  behave  like  an  owl  ? 


no  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

"  Only  think  of  all  you  have  done  ; 
Only  think  of  all  you  can  do — 
A  false  note  is  only  fun 
From  such  a  bird  as  you  ! 
Lift  up  your  proud  little  crest, 
Open  your  musical  beak, 
Other  birds  have  to  do  their  best; 

You  need  only  to  speak  !" 

% 

The  nightingale  shyly  took 
Her  head  from  under  her  wing, 
And,  giving  the  dove  a  look, 
Straightway  began  to  sing. 
There  was  never  a  bird  that  could  pass : 
The  night  was  divinely  calm, 
And  the  people  stood  on  the  grass 
To  hear  that  wonderful  psalm  ! 

The  nightingale  did  not  care, 
She  only  sang  to  the  skies. 
Her  song  ascended  there, 
And  there  she  fixed  her  eyes. 
The  people  that  stood  below 
She  knew  but  little  about, 
And  this  tale  has  a  moral,  I  know, 
If  you'll  try  and  find  it  out. 

—JEAN  INGEI,OW. 


Written  Composition.  in 

Write  the  story. 

What  do  you  think  of  the  nightingale  for  grieving 
so  over  her  mistake  ?  Do  you  think  there  are  better 
ways  of  showing  sorrow  over  mistakes  than  by 
grieving  over  them  ?  What  is  the  best  thing  to  do  ? 
Do  you  think  that  all  the  other  birds  were  laugh- 
ing at  her,  as  she  supposed,  or  did  she  just  imagine 
it?  What  do  you  think  of  a  bird  that  thinks  that 
all  the  other  birds  are  laughing  at  her  mistakes  ? 
What  do  you  think  of  the  dove  that  comforted  her — 
of  her  advice?  What  made  the  nightingale's  song 
so  much  more  beautiful  when  she  sang  again  ?  Has 
the  story  any  lesson  for  us  ? 

REPRODUCTION. 

Make  outline  and  write  the  story. 

WHAT  THE   MOON  SAW. 

It  was  in  a  little  town ;  I  saw  it  last  year,  but  that 
is  no  matter,  I  saw  it  so  clearly.  I  read  about  it 
to-night  in  a  paper,  but  that  was  not  at  all  clear. 

Down  in  an  inn  there  sat  a  man  who  leads  the 
dancing  bear  about.  He  was  eating  his  supper,  and 
the  bear  was  tied  outside  behind  the  woodpile.  Poor 
bear !  he  never  did  any  harm,  though  he  was  so  fierce 
to  look  at. 

Up  in  the  attic  three  small  children  were  playing 
about  in  my  bright  light.  The  eldest  was  just  six 


H2  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

years  old.  Crack !  crack !  it  came  up  the  stairs. 
Who  could  it  be  ? 

The  door  flew  open — it  was  the  bear,  the  big, 
shaggy  bear.  He  was  tired  of  staying  down  there  in 
the  yard,  and  now  found  his  way  upstairs.  "  I  saw 
it  all,"  said  the  moon. 

The  children  were  so  scared  by  the  big,  shaggy 
beast,  they  crept  each  into  a  corner.  The  bear  found 
them  all  three,  and  pushed  at  them  with  his  nose, 
but  he  did  not  hurt  them. 

He  must  be  a  big  dog,  they  thought,  and  so  they 
stroked  him.  He  lay  down  on  the  floor.  The  smallest 
child  rolled  over  him  and  hid  his  curly  head  in  the 
bear's  thick,  black  fur. 

Then  the  eldest  boy  took  his  drum  and  beat  it, 
bang!  bang! 

Up  jumped  the  bear  upon  his  hind  legs,  and  began 
to  dance — that  was  fun!  Each  boy  took  his  gun. 
The  bear  must  have  one  too,  and  he  held  it  tight  as 
a  soldier  holds  his.  There's  a  comrade  for  you,  my 
lads !  Away  they  marched. 

The  door  opened  all  at  once,  and  the  mother  of  the 
children  came  in.  You  should  have  seen  her !  She 
could  not  speak,  she  was  in  such  terror.  Her  cheeks 
were  as  white  as  a  sheet,  and  her  eyes  were  fixed 
with  horror.  But  the  youngest  boy  laughed  and 
nodded  and  cried, 


Written  Composition.  113 

"  Mamma,  we  are  playing  soldier." 
At  that  moment,    the   master   of  the   bear   came 
quickly  in. 

— HANS  ANDERSEN. 
REPRODUCTION. 

From  outline  write  the  story. 

WHAT  THE   MOON   SAW. 

Second  evening — It  was  but  yesterday  night  (said 
the  Moon)  that  I  peeped  into  a  small  courtyard,  in- 
closed by  houses.  There  was  a  hen  with  eleven  chick- 
ens. A  pretty  little  girl  was  skipping  about.  The 
hen  clucked,  and,  affrighted,  spread  out  her  wings 
over  her  little  ones.  Then  came  the  maiden's  father 
and  chid  the  child ;  and  I  passed  on,  without  think- 
ing more  of  it  at  the  moment. 

This  evening — But  a  few  minutes  ago  I  again 
peeped  into  the  same  yard.  All  was  silent,  but 
soon  the  little  maiden  came.  She  crept  cautiously 
to  the  henhouse,  lifted  the  latch,  and  stole  gently  up 
to  the  hen  and  the  chickens.  The  hen  clucked 
aloud,  and  they  all  ran  fluttering  about.  The  little 
girl  ran  after  them.  I  saw  it  plainly,  for  I  peeped  in 
through  a  chink  in  the  wall.  I  was  vexed  with  the 
naughty  child,  and  was  glad  that  the  father  came 
and  scolded  her  still  more  than  yesterday,  and  seized 
her  by  the  arm.  She  bent  her  head  back  ;  big  tears 


H4  Lessons  in  Language    Work* 

stood  in  her  blue  eyes.  "  What  are  you  doing  here  ?" 
he  asked.  She  wept.  "  I  wanted  to  go  in  and  kiss 
the  hen  and  beg  her  to  forgive  me  for  yesterday, 
but  I  could  not  tell  it  to  you."  And  the  father  kissed 
the  brow  of  the  innocent  child,  but  I  kissed  her  eyes 

and  lips. 

— ANDERSEN. 

REPRODUCTION. 

From  outline  write  the  story. 

WHAT  THE   MOON  SAW. 

Sixteenth  evening — Hear  what  the  Moon  related 
to  me  next.  Often  have  I  seen  young  officers, 
parading  for  the  first  time  in  their  splendid  uniforms. 
I  have  seen  maidens  in  their  ball-dresses.  The  hand- 
some bride  of  a  prince  arrayed  in  her  festal  attire ; 
but  no  joy  to  be  compared  to  that  which  I  witnessed 
last  evening  in  a  child,  a  little  girl  four  years  of  age. 
She  had  received  a  present  of  a  new  little  blue  frock 
and  a  new  rose-colored  bonnet.  The  finery  was 
already  put  on,  and  all  present  called  out  for  candles, 
for  the  light  of  the  moonbeams  that  shone  in  at  the 
window  was  far  too  little.  "  Light !  light !  "  and  the 
arms  anxiously  stretched  out  from  the  frock,  with  the 
fingers  wide  apart  from  each  other ;  and,  Oh,  how  her 
eyes  and  every  feature  beamed  with  joy  ! 

"  To-morrow  you  shall  go  out,"  said  her  mother. 
And  the  little  girl  looked  up  at  her  bonnet,  then 


Written  Composition.  115 

down  at  her  frock,  and  smiled  with  rapture. 
"  Mother,"  said  she,  "  what  will  the  dogs  think  when 
they  see  me  in  my  smart  dress  ?  " 

— ANDERSEN. 
REPRODUCTION. 

SONGS   OF   SEVEN. 

There's  no  dew  left  on  the  daisies  and  clover, 

There's  no  rain  left  in  heaven ; 

I've  said  my  "  seven  times  "  over  and  over, 

Seven  times  one  are  seven. 

I  am  old — so  old,  I  can  write  a  letter ; 

My  birthday  lessons  are  done  ; 

The  lambs  play  always,  they  know  no  better; 

They  are  only  one  times  one. 

0  moon  !  in  the  night  I  have  seen  you  sailing 
And  shining  so  round  and  low ; 

You  were  bright!  ah,  bright!  but  your  light  is  failing, 
You  are  nothing  now  but  a  bow. 

You  moon,  have  you  done  something  wrong  in  heaven 
That  God  has  hidden  your  face? 

1  hope  if  you  have  you  will  soon  be  forgiven, 
And  shine  again  in  your  place. 

O  velvet  bee,  you're  a  dusty  fellow, 
You've  powdered  your  legs  with  gold  ! 
O  brave  marsh  marybuds,  rich  and  yellow, 
Give  me  your  money  to  hold  ! 


1x6  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

O  columbine,  open  your  folded  wrapper, 
Where  two  twin  turtle-doves  dwell ! 

0  cuckoopint,  toll  me  the  purple  clapper 
That  hangs  in  your  clear,  green  bell ! 

And  show  me  your  nest  with  the  young  ones  in  it ; 

1  will  not  steal  them  away. 

I  am  old !  you  may  trust  me,  linnet,  linnet, — 
I  am  seven  times  one  to-day. 

—JEAN  INGBI,OW. 

How  did  the  little  girl  feel  about  this  birthday  ?  Describe 
your  own  birthday  when  you  were  seven  years  old.  Were  you 
happy  to  be  so  old  ?  Could  you  write  a  letter  at  that  time  ? 
Why  was  there  no  dew  on  the  daisies  ?  Why  was  the  moon 
failing  ? 

HOME   AND   FIRESIDE. 
Write  the  story  in  prose. 

The  patter  of  feet  was  on  the  stair, 
As  the  editor  turned  in  his  sanctum  chair, 
And  said — for  weary  the  day  had  been, — 
"  Don't  let  another  intruder  in." 

But  scarce  had  he  uttered  the  words  before 
A  face  peered  in  at  the  half-closed  door, 
And  a  child  sobbed  out — "  Sir,  mother  said 
I  should  come  and  tell  you  that  Dan  is  dead." 


Written  Composition.  117 

"And  pray  who  is  Dan  ?  "     The  streaming  eyes 
Look  questioning  up,  with  a  strange  surprise ; 
"  Not  know  him  ?     Why,  sir,  all  day  he  sold 
The  papers  you  print,  through  wet  and  cold. 

"  The  newsboys  say  they  could  not  tell 
The  reason  his  stock  went  off  so  well ; 
I  knew  !     With  his  voice  so  sweet  and  low, 
Could  anyone  bear  to  say  him  '  No  ?  ' 

aAnd  the  money  he  made,  whatever  it  be, 
He  carried  straight  home  to  mother  and  me. 
No  matter  about  his  rags,  he  said, 
If  only  he  kept  us  clothed  and  fed. 

uAnd  he  did  it,  sir,  trudging  through  rain  and  cold, 
Nor  stopped  till  the  last  of  his  sheets  was  sold  ; 
But  he's  dead — he's  dead  !  and  we  miss  him  so  ! 
And  mother — she  thought  you  might  want  to  know." 

In  the  paper  next  morning,  as  "  leader,"  ran 
A  paragraph  thus — "  The  newsboy,  Dan, 
One  of  God's  little  heroes,  who 
Did  nobly  the  duty  he  had  to  do, 
For  mother  and  sister,  earning  bread, 
By  patient  endurance  and  toil — is  dead." 

— MARGARET  J.  PRRSTON. 


Ii8  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

REPRODUCTION. 

From  outline  tell  the  story. 

ENOCH   ARDEN. 

Long  lines  of  cliff  breaking  have  left  a  chasm  ; 
And  in  the  chasm  are  foam  and  yellow  sands ; 
Beyond,  red  roofs  about  a  narrow  wharf 
In  cluster ;  then  a  moulder 'd  church  ;  and  higher 
A  long  street  climbs  to  one  tall-tower'd  mill ; 
.  And  high  in  heaven  behind  it  a  gray  down 
With  Danish  barrows ;  and  a  hazel  wood, 
By  autumn  nutters  haunted,  flourishes 
Green  in  a  cup  like  hollow  of  the  down. 
Here  on  this  beach  a  hundred  years  ago, 
Three  children  of  three  houses,  Annie  Lee, 
The  prettiest  little  damsel  in  the  port, 
And  Philip  Ray,  the  miller's  only  son, 
And  Enoch  Arden,  a  rough  sailor's  lad 
Made  orphan  by  a  winter  shipwreck,  play'd 
Among  the  waste  and  lumber  of  the  shore, 
Hard  coils  of  cordage,  swarthy  fishing  nets, 
Anchors  of  rusty  fluke,  and  boats  updrawn  ; 
And  built  their  castles  of  dissolving  sand 
To  watch  them  overflow'd,  or,  following  up 
And  flying  the  white  breaker,  daily  left 

The  little  footprint,  daily  wash'd  away. 

—TENNYSON. 


Written  Composition.  119 

REPRODUCTION. 
THE   RIDE   FROM   GHENT  TO   AIX. 

I  sprang  to  the  stirrup,  and  Joris,  and  he ; 
I  galloped,  Dirck  galloped,  we  galloped  all  three; 
"Good-speed!"  cried  the  watch,  as  the  gate-bolts 

undrew ; 

"Speed!"  echoed  the  wall  to  us  galloping  through ; 
Behind  shut  the  postern,  the  lights  sank  to  rest, 
And  into  the  midnight  we  galloped  abreast. 

Not  a  word  to  each  other;  we  kept  the  great  pace 
Neck  by  neck,  stride  by  stride,  never  changing  our 

place; 

I  turned  in  my  saddle  and  made  its  girths  tight, 
Then  shortened  each  stirrup,  and  set  the  pique  right, 
Rebuckled  the  cheek-strap,  chained  slacker  the  bit, 
Nor  galloped  less  steadily  Roland  a  whit. 

4  Twas  moonset  at  starting ;  but,  while  we  drew  near 
Lokeren,  the  cocks  crew,  and  twilight  dawned  clear; 
At  Boom  a  great  yellow  star  came  out  to  see ; 
At  Duffel  'twas  morning  as  plain  as  could  be ; 
And  from  Mecheln  church-steeple  we  heard  the  half- 
chime, 
So  Joris  broke  silence  with,  "  Yet  there  is  time!" 


I2O  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

At  Aerschot,  up  leaped  of  a  sudden  the  sun, 
And  against  him  the  cattle  stood  black  every  one, 
To  stare  through  the  mist  at  us  galloping  past ; 
And  I  saw  my  stout  galloper,  Roland,  at  last, 
With  resolute  shoulders,  each  butting  away 
The  haze,  as  some  bluff  river  headland  its  spray. 

And  his  low  head  and  crest,  just  one  sharp  ear  bent 

back 

For  my  voice,  and  the  other  bent  out  on  his  track 
And  one  eye's  black  intelligence — ever  that  glance 
O'er  its  white  edge  at  me,  his  own  master,  askance ! 
And  the  thick  heavy  spume-flakes  which   aye  and 

anon 
His  fierce  lips  shook  upward  in  galloping  on. 

By  Hasselt,  Dirck  groaned ;  and  cried  Joris,  "  Stay 

spur! 

Your  Roos  galloped  bravely,  the  fault's  not  in  her, 
We'll  remember  at  Aix" — for  one  heard  the  quick 

wheeze 
Of  her  chest,  saw  the  stretched  neck  and  staggering 

knees, 

And  sunk  tail,  and  horrible  heave  of  the  flank, 
As  down  on  her  haunches  she  shuddered  and  sank. 

So  we  were  left  galloping,  Joris  and  I, 

Past  Looz  and  past  Tongres,  no  cloud  in  the  sky ; 

The  broad  sun  above  laughed  a  pitiless  laugh ; 


Written  Composition.  121 

1  Neath  our  feet  broke  the  brittle  bright  stubble  like 

chaff, 

Till  over  by  Dalhem  a  dome-spire  sprang  white, 
And  u  Gallop,"  gasped  Joris,  "  for  Aix  is  in  sight  I  " 

"  How  they'll  greet  us  !  " — and  all  in  a  moment  his 

roan 

Rolled  neck  and  croup  over,  lay  dead  as  a  stone ; 
And  there  was  my  Roland  to  bear  the  whole  weight 
Of  the  news  which  alone  could  save  Aix  from  her 

fate, 

With  his  nostrils  like  pits  full  of  blood  to  the  brim, 
And  with  circle  of  red  for  each  eye-socket's  rim. 

Then  I  cast  loose  my  buff  coat,  each  holster  let  fall, 
Shook  off  both  my  jack-boots,  let  go  belt  and  all ; 
Stood  up  in  the  stirrup,  leaned,  patted  his  ear, 
Called  my  Roland  his  pet  name,  my  horse  without 

peer, 
Clapped  my  hands,  laughed  and  sang,  any  noise,  bad 

or  good, 
Till  at  length  into  Aix  Roland  galloped  and  stood. 

And  all  I  remember  is  friends  flocking  round, 

As   I    sat  with   his   head    'twixt  my  knees  on  the 

ground ; 
And  no  voice  but  was  praising  this  Roland  of  mine, 


122  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

As  I  poured  down  bis  throat  our   last  measure  of 

wine, 

Which  (the  burgesses  voted  by  common  consent) 
Was  no  more  than  his  due  who  brought 

Good  news  from  Ghent. 

— ROBERT  BROWNING. 

DEVELOPMENT. 

I. 
From  this  outline  build  the  story. 

Four  bluish  eggs  all  in  the  moss ; 

Soft-lined  home  on  the  cherry  bough. 
Life  is  trouble,  and  love  is  loss — 

There's  only  one  robin  now. 

— T.    B.    Al,DRICH. 

DEVELOPMENT. 

II. 
FABLE. 

A  certain  bird  in  a  certain  wood, 
Peeling  the  springtime  warm  and  good, 
Sang  to  it  in  melodious  mood. 
On  other  neighboring  branches  stood 
Other  birds,  who  heard  his  song. 
Loudly  he  sang,  and  clear  and  strong; 
Sweetly  he  sang,  and  it  stirred  their  gall 
There  should  be  a  voice  so  musical. 


Written  Composition.  123 

They  said  to  themselves  :    "  We  must  stop  that  bird, 

He's  the  sweetest  voice  was  ever  heard. 

That  rich,  deep,  chest  note,  crystal  clear, 

Is  a  mortifying  thing  to  hear. 

We  have  sharper  beaks  and  hardier  wings, 

Yet  we  but  croak  ;  this  fellow  sings  I" 

So  they  planned  and  planned,  and  killed  the  bird 

With  the  sweetest  voice  was  ever  heard. 

— T.  B.  AI.DRICH. 

What  lesson  would  you  draw  from  this  story  that  might  be 
applied  to  human  life  ? 


QUOTATIONS    FOR  EXPANSION. 

Expand — L,esson  i. 

One  by  one  thy  duties  wait  thee ; 
Let  thy  whole  strength  go  to  each. 
Let  no  future  dream  elate  thee, 
Learn  thou  first  what  these  can  teach. 

L,esson  2. 

The  heights  by  great  men  reached  and  kept, 
Were  not  attained  by  sudden  flight ; 
But  they,  while  their  companions  slept. 
Were  toiling  upward  in  the  night. 


124  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Lesson  3. 

I  hold  these  things  to  be  grandly  true, 
That  a  noble  deed  is  a  step  toward  God, 
Lifting  the  soul  from  the  common  sod 
To  a  clearer  air,  and  a  broader  view. 

Lesson  4. 

Boys  flying  kites  haul  in  their  white-wing'd  birds  ; 
But  you  can't  do  that  when  you're  flying  words. 

Lesson  5, 

You  have  but  a  lifetime  in  which  to  make  a   man. 
Take  care  of  to-day. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
COMPOSITION— CONTINUED. 

STORY   FOR   REPRODUCTION. 
Sixth  Grade. 

THE   SLEEPING   BEAUTY. 

From  Grimm's  Fairy  Tales. 

Chapter  I. 

In  times  past  there  lived  a  king  and  qneen,  who 
said  to  each  other  every  day  of  their  lives,  "  Wonld 
that  we  had  a  child  1"  and  yet  they  had  none.  But 
it  happened  once  that,  when  the  qneen  was  bathing, 
there  came  a  frog  ont  of  the  water,  and  he  squatted 
on  the  ground  and  said  to  her : 

"Thy  wish  shall  be  fulfilled  before  a  year  has 
gone  by.  Thou  shalt  bring  a  daughter  into  the 
world." 

And,  as  the  frog  foretold,  so  it  happened,  and  the 
queen  bore  a  daughter  so  beautiful  that  the  king 
could  not  contain  himself  for  joy,  and  he  ordained  a 
great  feast.  Not  only  did  he  bid  to  it  his  relations, 
friends  and  acquaintances,  but  also  the  wise  women, 
that  they  might  be  kind  and  favorable  to  the  child. 
There  were  thirteen  of  them  in  his  kingdom,  but,  as 
he  had  only  provided  twelve  golden  plates  for  them 
to  eat  from,  one  of  them  had  to  be  left  out.  How- 

125 


126  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

ever,  the  feast  was  celebrated  with  all  splendor; 
and,  as  it  drew  to  an  end,  the  wise  women  stood  for- 
ward to  present  to  the  child  their  wonderful  gifts. 
One  bestowed  virtue,  one  beauty,  a  third  riches,  and 
so  on — whatever  there  is  in  the  world  to  wish  for. 
And,  when  eleven  of  them  had  said  their  say,  in  came 
the  uninvited  thirteenth,  burning  to  revenge  herself, 
and,  without  greeting  or  respect,  she  cried  with  a 
loud  voice : 

"  In  the  fifteenth  year  of  her  age  the  princess  shall 
prick  herself  with  a  spindle  and  shall  fall  down 
dead." 

And,  without  speaking  one  more  word,  she  turned 
away  and  left  the  hall.  Every  one  was  terrified  at 
her  saying,  when  the  twelfth  came  forward,  for  she 
had  not  yet  bestowed  her  gift,  and,  though  she  could 
not  do  away  with  the  evil  prophecy,  yet  she  could 
soften  it,  so  she  said : 

"The  princess  shall  not  die,  but  fall  into  a  deep 
sleep  for  a  hundred  years." 

SLEEPING   BEAUTY. 

Write  the  story  from  the  outline. 
Introduction : 

The  wish  of  the  king  and  queen. 
The  frog  and  his  promise. 


Written  Composition.  127 

Body  : 

The  birth  of  the  daughter. 

The  joy  of  the  king.     How  he  celebrated  it. 

The  wise  women.     How  many  were  invited  ? 

The  gifts  of  the  wise  women. 

The  revenge  of  the  uninvited  guest. 

The  effect  of  the  prophecy. 

How  the  prophecy  was  changed. 

Paraphrase  or  write  story  in  prose,  using  this  poem  as  a 
theme. 

SLEEPING   BEAUTY. 
TENNYSON. 

Roof-haunting  martins  warm  their  eggs 

In  these,  in  those  the  life  is  stay'd. 
The  mantles  from  the  golden  pegs 

Droop  sleepily ;  no  sound  is  made, 
Not  even  of  a  gnat  that  sings. 

More  like  a  picture  seemeth  all 
Than  those  old  portraits  of  old  kings 

That  watch  the  sleepers  from  the  wall. 

Here  sits  the  butler  with  a  flask 

Between  his  knees,  half  drain'd  ,  and  there 

The  wrinkled  steward  at  his  task  ; 
The  maid  of  honor  blooming  fair ; 

The  page  has  caught  her  hand  in  his  : 
Her  lips  are  severed  as  to  speak, 


£28  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

His  own  are  pouted  to  a  kiss : 

The  blush  is  fix'd  upon  her  cheek. 

Till  all  the  hundred  summers  pass, 

The  beams,  that  thro'  the  oriel  shine, 
Make  prisms  in  every  carven  glass, 

And  beaker  filled  with  noble  wine. 
Each  baron  at  the  banquet  sleeps, 

Grave  faces  gather'd  in  a  ring  ; 
His  state  the  king  reposing  keeps. 

He  must  have  been  a  jovial  king. 

All  round  a  hedge  upshoots,  and  shows 

At  distance  like  a  little  wood ; 
Thorns,  ivies,  woodbine,  mistletoes, 

And  grapes  with  bunches  red  as  blood ; 
All  creeping  plants,  a  wall  of  green, 

Close-matted  burr  and  brake  and  brier, 
And  glimpsing  over  these,  just  seen, 

High  up,  the  topmost  palace  spire. 

Chapter  II. 

Now  the  king,  being  desirous  of  saving  his  child 
even  from  this  misfortune,  gave  commandment  that 
all  the  spindles  in  his  kingdom  should  be  burnt  up. 

The  maiden  grew  up  adorned  with  all  the  gifts  of 
the  wise  women,  and  she  was  so  lovely,  modest, 


Written  Composition.  129 

sweet,  and  kind  and  clever,  that  no  one  who  saw  her 
could  help  loving  her. 

It  happened  one  day,  she  being  fifteen  years  old, 
that  the  king  and  queen  rode  abroad,  and  the  maiden 
was  left  behind  alone  in  the  castle.  She  wandered 
about  into  all  the  nooks  and  corners,  and  into  all  the 
chambers  and  parlors,  as  the  fancy  took  her,  till  at 
last  she  came  to  an  old  tower.  She  climbed  the 
narrow  winding  stair  which  led  to  a  little  door,  with 
a  rusty  key  sticking  out  of  the  lock ;  she  turned  the 
key,  and  the  door  opened,  and  there  in  the  little  room 
sat  an  old  woman  with  a  spindle,  diligently  spinning 
her  flax. 

"  Good  day,  mother,"  said  the  princess,  "  what  are 
you  doing?  " 

"  I  am  spinning,"  answered  the  old  woman,  nod- 
ding her  head. 

"  What  thing  is  that  that  twists  round  so  briskly  ?" 
asked  the  maiden,  and  taking  the  spindle  into  her 
hand  she  began  to  spin,  but  no  sooner  had  she 
touched  it  than  the  evil  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  and 
she  pricked  her  finger  with  it.  In  that  very  moment 
she  fell  back  upon  the  bed  that  stood  there,  and  lay 
in  a  deep  sleep.  And  this  sleep  fell  upon  the  whole 
castle;  the  king  and  queen,  who  had  returned  and 
were  in  the  great  hall,  fell  fast  asleep,  and  with  them 


130  Lessons  in  Language   Work* 

the  whole  court.  The  horses  in  their  stalls,  the  dogs 
in  the  yard,  the  pigeons  on  the  roof,  the  flies  on  the 
wall,  the  very  fire  that  flickered  on  the  hearth, 
became  still,  and  slept  like  the  rest ;  and  the  meat  on 
the  spit  ceased  roasting,  and  the  cook,  who  was  going 
to  pull  the  scullion's  hair,  for  some  mistake  he  had 
made,  let  him  go,  and  went  to  sleep.  And  the  wind 
ceased,  and  not  a  leaf  fell  from  the  trees  about  the 
castle. 

Then  round  about  that  place  there  grew  a  hedge 
of  thorns  thicker  every  year,  until  at  last  the  whole 
castle  was  hidden  from  view,  and  nothing  of  it  could 
be  seen  but  the  vane  on  the  roof.  And  a  rumor  went 
abroad  in  all  that  country  of  the  beautiful  sleeping 
Rosamond,  for  so  was  the  princess  called ;  and  from 
time  to  time  many  kings'  sons  came  and  tried  to  force 
their  way  through  the  hedge ;  but  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  do  so,  for  the  thorns  held  fast  together  like 
strong  hands,  and  the  young  men  were  caught  by 
them,  and,  not  being  able  to  get  free,  there  died  a 
lamentable  death. 

STORY  PROM  OUTLINE— CONTINUED. 

Body — continued : 

The  king's  command. 

Description  of  the  girl. 

The  king  and  queen  take  a  journey. 


Written  Composition.  131 

How  did  the  girl  occupy  herself  while  they  were  away  ? 

What  did  she  find  ? 

What  did  she  do  ? 

The  result 

The  prophecy  fulfilled. 

The  rumor  and  the  attempt  to  enter  the  palace. 

From  the  poem  as  outlined,  tell  the  story. 

STORY  III. 

THE   SLEEPING   BEAUTY. 
Chapter  II. 

Year  after  year  unto  her  feet, 

She  lying  on  her  couch  alone, 
Across  the  purpled  coverlet, 

The  maiden's  jet  black  hair  has  grown, 
On  either  side  her  tranced  form 

Forth  streaming  from  a  braid  of  pearl : 
The  slumbers  light  is  rich  and  warm. 

And  moves  not  on  the  rounded  curl. 

The  silk  star-broider'd  coverlid 

Unto  her  limbs  itself  doth  mold 
Languidly  ever ;  and,  amid 

Her  full  black  ringlets  downward  rolled, 
Glows  forth  each  softly  shadow'd  arm 

With  bracelets  of  the  diamond  bright : 
Her  constant  beauty  doth  inform 

Stillness  with  love,  and  day  with  light. 


132  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

She  sleeps,  her  breathings  are  not  heard 

In  palace  chambers  far  apart. 
The  fragrant  tresses  are  not  stirr'd 

That  lie  upon  her  charm'd  heart. 
She  sleeps  :  on  either  hand  ups  wells 

The  gold-fringed  pillow  lightly  prest : 
She  sleeps,  nor  dreams,  but  ever  dwells 

A  perfect  form  in  perfect  rest. 

Chapter  III. 

Many  long  years  afterward  there  came  a  king's 
son  into  that  country,  and  heard  an  old  man  tell  how 
there  should  be  a  castle  standing  behind  a  hedge  of 
thorns,  and  that  there  a  beautiful  enchanted  princess 
named  Rosamond  had  slept  for  a  hundred  years,  and 
with  her  the  king  and  queen  and  the  whole  court 
The  old  man  had  been  told  by  his  grandfather  that 
many  kings>  sons  had  sought  to  pass  the  thorn  hedge, 
but  had  been  caught  and  pierced  by  the  thorns,  and 
had  died  a  miserable  death.  Then  said  the  young 
man, 

"  Nevertheless,  I  do  not  fear  to  try,  I  shall  win 
through,  and  see  the  lovely  Rosamond." 

The  good  old  man  tried  to  dissuade  him,  but  he 
would  not  listen  to  his  words. 


Written   Composition.  133 

For  now  the  hundred  years  were  at  an  end,  and  the 
day  had  come  when  Rosamond  should  be  awakened. 
When  the  prince  drew  near  the  hedge  of  thorns,  it  was 
changed  into  a  hedge  of  beautiful  large  flowers,  which 
parted  and  bent  aside  to  let  him  pass,  and  then  closed 
behind  him  in  a  thick  hedge.  When  he  reached  the 
castle  yard,  he  saw  the  horses  and  brindled  hunting 
dogs  lying  asleep,  and  on  the  roof  the  pigeons  were 
sitting  with  their  heads  under  their  wings.  When 
he  came  indoors,  the  flies  on  the  walls  were  asleep, 
the  cook  in  the  kitchen  had  his  hand  uplifted  to  strike 
the  scullion,  and  the  kitchen  maid  had  the  black 
fowl  on  her  lap  ready  to  pluck.  Then  he  mounted 
higher,  and  saw  in  the  hall  the  whole  court  lying 
asleep,  and  above  them,  on  their  thrones,  slept  the 
king  and  queen.  And  still  he  went  farther,  and  all 
was  so  quiet  that  he  could  hear  his  own  breathing, 
and  at  last  he  came  to  the  tower,  and  went  up  the 
winding  stair,  and  opened  the  door  of  the  little  room 
where  Rosamond  lay.  And,  when  he  saw  her  looking 
so  lovely  in  her  sleep,  he  could  not  turn  away  his 
eyes,  and  presently  he  stooped  and  kissed  her,  and 
she  awaked,  and  opened  her  eyes,  and  looked  very 
kindly  on  him.  And  she  rose,  and  they  went  forth ( 
together,  and  the  king  and  queen  and  whole  court 
waked  up  and  gazed  on  each  other  with  great  eyes  of 
wonderment.  And  the  horses  in  the  yard  got  up  and 


134  Lessons  in  Language    Work. 

shook  themselves,  the  hounds  sprang  up  and  wagged 
their  tails,  the  pigeons  on  the  roof  drew  their  heads 
from  under  their  wings,  looked  around,  and  flew  into 
the  field,  the  flies  on  the  wall  crept  on  a  little  farther, 
the  kitchen  fire  leapt  up  and  blazed,  and  cooked  the 
meat,  the  joint  on  the  spit  began  to  roast,  the  cook 
gave  the  scullion  such  a  box  on  the  ear  that  he 
roared  out,  and  the  maid  went  on  plucking  the  fowl. 

Then  the  wedding  of  the  prince  and  Rosamond  was 
held  with  all  splendor,  and  they  lived  very  happily 
together  until  the  end  of  their  lives. 

From  continued  outline,  write  Chapter  III. 

SLEEPING   BEAUTY. 
OUTLINE. 

Body — concluded : 

A  king's  son  hears  the  story  of  the  Sleeping  Beauty. 

The  determination  of  the  prince. 

The  peasant's  attempt  to  dissuade  him. 

His  failure. 

The  time  of  the  prophecy  fulfilled. 

The  appearance  of  the  hedge. 

The  condition  of  the  court  of  the  palace. 

The  condition  inside  the  palace. 

The  prince  goes  to  the  tower. 

Conclusion  : 
The  kiss. 
The  result. 


Written  Composition.  135 

From  the  poem  as  outlined,  tell  the  story. 

THE  SLEEPING  BEAUTY. 
Chapter  III. 

A  touch,  a  kiss  !  the  charm  is  snapt. 

There  rose  a  noise  of  striking  clocks, 
And  feet  that  ran  and  doors  that  clapt, 

And  barking  dogs,  and  crowing  cocks  ; 
A  fuller  light  illumined  all, 

A  breeze  thro'  all  the  garden  swept, 
A  sudden  hubbub  shook  the  hall, 

And  sixty  feet  the  fountain  leapt. 

The  hedge  broke  in,  the  banner  blew, 

The  butler  drank,  the  steward  scrawPd, 
The  fire  shot  up,  the  martin  flew, 

The  parrot  scream'd,  the  peacock  squall'd ; 
The  maid  and  page  reuew'd  their  strife, 

The  palace  bang'd,  and  buzz'd  and  clackt, 
And  all  the  long-pent  stream  of  life 

Dash'd  downward  in  a  cataract. 

And  last  with  these  the  king  awoke, 
And  in  his  chair,  himself  uprear'd, 

And  yawn'd,  and  rubb'd  his  face  and  spoke, 

u  By  holy  rood  !  a  royal  beard  ! 

How  say  you  ?  we  have  slept,  my  lords, 
My  beard  has  grown  into  my  lap," 

The  baron  swore,  with  many  words, 
'  Twas  but  an  after-dinner's  nap. 


136  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

"  Pardy,"  returned  the  king,  "  but  still 
My  joints  are  somewhat  stiff  or  so. 
My  lord,  and  shall  we  pass  the  bill 
I  mentioned  half  an  hour  ago?" 
The  chancellor,  sedate  and  vain, 

In  courteous  words  returned  reply ; 
But  dallied  with  his  golden  chain, 
And,  smiling,  put  the  question  by. 
********** 

4 A  hundred  summers !  can  it  be  ? 

And  whither  goest  thou,  tell  me  where  ? 
*  Oh  seek  my  father's  court  with  me, 

For  there  are  greater  wonders  there.' 
And  o'er  the  hills,  and  far  away, 

Beyond  their  utmost  purple  rim, 
Beyond  the  night,  across  the  day, 

Thro'  all  the  world  she  follow'd  him. 


Written  Composition.  137 

STORY  FOR  REPRODUCTION. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Oh,  that  golden  time  of  yore 

Which  we  reach  through  mystic  lore, 

When  gods  and  giants  walked  upon  the  land  ! 

When  wood  nymph  and  water  sprite 

Danced  with  glee  in  broad  daylight, 

And  the  sea  maids  wandered  out  upon  the  sand. 

Strange  old  days,  now  long  time  o'er, 

How  we  wish  they'd  come  once  more  ! 

And  that  gods  might  wander  downward  from  the  sky. 

Think  of  the  sun  in  all  its  courses 

Drawn  by  Phoebus  and  his  horses ! 

Think  of  horses  that  had  wings  and  could  fly. 

By  Greek  Mythology  we  mean  the  stories  which  tell  of  the 
strange  beliefs  that  were  held  by  the  Grecian  people  long  ago, 
when  Greece  was  the  most  important  country  of  the  earth,  and 
the  Greeks  the  most  intelligent  people. 

You  have  read  of  some  of  the  strange  ideas  the  Greeks  had 
of  the  world  beyond  that  portion  bordering  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  of  their  strange  belief  in  gods,  and  giants,  and 
dragons,  and  all  such  things.  To  us  now,  who  know  so  much 
better,  it  seems  strange  that  they  could  have  been  so  intelligent 
and  yet  so  credulous  ;  but  when  we  study  their  myths  we  find 
that  a  beautiful  lesson  underlies  every  one  of  them. 

I  wonder  if  we  can  discover  the  lesson  which  lies  in  the  story 
that  we  are  now  going  to  read  and  write  about.  It  is  a  story 
telling  what  the  Greeks  conceived  to  be  the  history  of  the 
origin  of  man. 


138  Lessons  in  Langttage   Work. 

Long,  long  ago,  in  the  olden  times,  when  there 
were  no  men  and  women,  nor  little  girls  and  boys; 
when  gods  and  giants,  and  fairies  and  brownies,  and 
gorgons  and  sea  folks  were  the  only  beings  in  exist- 
ence, there  lived  two  Titans — the  Titans,  you  know, 
were  the  sons  of  Chronus,  "  Old  Father  Time." 
These  two  Titans  were  named  Prometheus  and  Epi- 
metheus. 

Now,  it  seems  that  Jupiter,  the  great  god  of  Olym- 
pus, gave  the  earth  to  Prometheus  and  his  brother, 
and  told  them  that  they  might  dwell  there  and  pos- 
sess it  as  long  as  they  broke  none  of  the  Olympian 
laws. 

The  two  young  Titans  came  down  from  Olympus 
to  their  new  abode  and  were  soon  settled. 

Prometheus  was  much  more  clever  than  his 
brother,  and  also  more  thoughtful  and  unselfish.  In 
fact,  his  name  means  forethought  (and  we  all  know 
what  an  excellent  characteristic  that  is). 

Epimetheus  was  bright,  hopeful,  enthusiastic,  and 
a  little  inclined  to  be  careless.  His  name,  by  the 
way,  means  afterthought. 

When  Jupiter  sent  his  young  relatives  forth  to 
their  new  home  he  gave  them  many  rare  gifts,  such 
as  the  gods  bestow. 

Epimetheus  soon  became  interested  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  their  new  planet.  He  felt  that  it  would  seem 


Written  Composition.  139 

more  homelike  if  he  could  see  things  growing ;  so, 
by  the  aid  of  the  gifts  received  from  Jupiter,  he  en- 
thusiastically went  to  work  to  bring  into  existence 
trees,  and  herbs,  and  flowers.  Then  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  making  dogs,  and  horses,  and  cows,  and 
donkeys,  and  fish,  and  birds,  and  all  the  other  ani- 
mals. When  he  had  finished  it  all  he  called  Prome- 
theus to  inspect  and  admire  his  work. 

Prometheus  looked  about  and  concluded  that 
Epimetheus  had  left  but  little  for  him  to  do.  He 
quietly  walked  away  and  sat  down  by  the  seashore. 
After  thinking  some  time,  a  look  of  inspiration  and 
decision  brightened  his  face.  Going  a  little  way  up 
the  cliff,  he  proceeded  to  dig  some  clay,  then  going 
down  to  the  shore  he  caught  some  water  in  a  shell, 
carried  it  back  and  mixed  it  with  the  clay.  He  rolled 
the  clay  round  and  long,  and  shaped  it,  giving  it  a 
head  and  face,  arms,  hands,  legs  and  feet.  He 
paused,  and  his  brow  was  wrinkled  in  thought.  Soon 
a  look  of  deep  determination  came  into  his  face,  and, 
seeing  Minerva  gliding  along  in  her  rose-cloud 
chariot,  he  sent  her  a  thought  message. 

She  floated  down  to  the  water's  edge  and  stepping 
into  Neptune's  chariot  was  soon  conveyed  to  shore. 

Prometheus  said,  "O  beautiful  blue-eyed  maiden, 
Goddess  of  Wisdom,  grant  me  a  boon." 


140  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Now  Prometheus  was  under  the  special  protection 
of  the  Goddess  Minerva,  as  he  preferred  wisdom  to 
all  the  other  virtues.  So  Minerva  was  inclined  to 
grant  him  any  favor  in  her  power,  and  bade  him 
make  his  wishes  known. 

Prometheus  told  her  about  his  great  plan  ;  how  he 
had  conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  being  to  live  upon 
and  govern  the  land ;  a  being  who  should  be  nobler 
than  any  being  ever  created  by  a  god.  His  great 
wish  was  to  be  able  to  endow  this  being  with  the 
nature  of  the  gods,  and,  to  make  this  possible,  he 
begged  Minerva  to  secure  for  him  a  spark  of  the 
heavenly  fire,  that  with  this  he  might  endow  his 
being  with  the  germ  of  eternal  life. 

Impressed  with  his  earnestness,  Minerva  consented 
to  assist  him,  and  again  approaching  the  chariot,  and 
giving  command  to  the  sea  horses,  she  was  soon  speed- 
ing away. 

In  a  very  short  time  she  was  back,  bearing 
in  her  hand  a  torch  lighted  at  the  great  fire  of  the 
sun.  This  Prometheus  took,  and  now  the  most 
wonderfully  interesting  thing  happened, — the  thing 
which  more  closely  concerns  us  than  any  other  thing 
told  in  any  other  of  the  mythological  stories. 

Prometheus  touched  the  clay  image  with  the  fire, 
and  immediately  it  began  to  breathe.  It  opened  its 
eyes,  stood  up,  spoke,  and  behold !  it  became  a  man. 


Written  Composition.  141 

And  this,  according  to  the  Greek  account,  is  the 
origin  of  man. 

First  make  an  outline,  then  write  the  story. 

II. 

Jupiter  was  very  much  displeased  when  he  dis- 
covered that  Prometheus  had  stolen  the  fire  of 
heaven.  He  realized  that  the  germ  of  life-giving  fire 
would  in  time  make  man  a  godlike  creature. 

So  to  punish  Prometheus,  he  made  woman — 
the  most  perfect  being  ever  created  by  the 
gods.  All  the  gods  of  heaven  contributed  some 
charm  toward  the  perfecting  of  her  character.  Venus 
gave  her  rarest  gifts  of  beauty;  Mars  gave  her 
strength  and  endurance ;  Diana  gave  her  chastity 
and  sweet  modesty  ;  Apollo  illuminated  her  being  with 
the  light  of  heaven ;  Minerva  gave  her  wisdom  ;  Ceres, 
prudence  and  industry.  Indeed  the  gods  vied  with 
each  other  to  see  which  could  bestow  the  most  valu- 
able gift,  and  when  woman  was  completed  she  was 
indeed  a  noble  piece  of  work. 

She  was  called  Pandora — the  meaning  of  the  word 
is  "  all  gifts."  Jupiter  sent  her  forth,  in  hopes  that 
Prometheus  in  beholding  her  perfections  and  con- 
trasting her  with  the  coarser  workmanship  of  his  own 
hands  might  become  dissatisfied  and  lose  his  interest 
in  mankind.  As  a  parting  gift  Jupiter  presented  her 


142  Lessons  in  Language   Work, 

with  a  very  curious  box,  telling  her  it  was  not  to  be 
opened  until  her  wedding  morning. 

Beautiful,  young  Pandora  started  forth  on  her  jour- 
ney to  the  earth  in  Jupiter's  chariot  of  state,  drawn 
by  his  fiery  horses.  She  took  with  her  a  great  many 
beautiful  garments  made  from  the  fleecy  clouds; 
gowns  of  sea  shell  pink  and  turquoise  blue,  sea  green 
crepes  woven  by  the  mermaids;  and  one  more  beauti- 
ful than  all  the  others — a  cobweb  lace,  woven  in  rarest 
design  by  the  hand  of  Minerva,  sparkling  with  dia- 
monds from  Pluto's  caves.  This  was  to  be  worn  over 
a  satin  robe  woven  by  Minerva's  spinners  from  the 
sheeny  threads  of  the  sun's  rays,  embroidered  with 
asphodels  and  hyacinths,  and  was  to  be  her  wedding 
gown.  With  all  these  beautiful  clothes  and  the 
curious  box,  Pandora  landed  upon  the  earth. 

I  have  always  felt  that  the  one  thing  about 
Prometheus  which  was  not  to  be  admired  was  his 
reception  of  Pandora,  his  utter  indifference  to  all  her 
charms.  You  will  find  it  hard  to  believe,  when  I  tell 
you  that  he  was  so  absorbed  with  his  new  creatures 
that  he  would  not  interrupt  his  work  to  entertain  her. 

In  fact,  I  don't  believe  he  realized  that  she  was 
superior  to  his  men  creatures  in  the  least, — you 
know  there  are  some  people  who  always  think  their 
own  things  are  better  than  other  people's.  At  any 
rate,  he  didn't  appreciate  her,  and  poor  Pandora 


Written  Composition.  143 

would  have  had  a  very  lonely  time  of  it  if  it  had  not 
been  for  bright,  happy  Epimetheus. 

He  was  charmed  with  the  beautiful  maiden.  Indeed 
he  could  think  of  nothing  else.  He  realized  that  the 
earth  would  be  a  dark,  empty  place  if  she  should 
return  to  heaven.  He  could  see  farther  than 
Prometheus  this  time.  He  saw  that  she  was  just 
what  was  needed  to  complete  the  new  planet,  and 
make  it  equal  to  the  home  they  had  left,  so  Pandora 
and  Epimetheus  were  soon  married. 

On  the  wedding  morning,  Pandora  brought  forth 
the  strange  box.  Epimetheus  tried  to  persuade  her 
not  to  open  it,  for,  like  his  brother,  he  was  somewhat 
suspicious  of  Jupiter's  gifts,  but  Pandora  insisted. 
Some  say  Juno,  jealous  of  the  attention  Jupiter  was 
bestowing  upon  this  new  creature,  slyly  secreted  a 
little  curiosity  into  her  gift.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
Pandora  was  determined  to  open  the  box,  and  finally 
Epimetheus  consented. 

The  box  was  opened,  and  it  would,  indeed,  have  been 
better  had  she  listened  to  the  advice  of  Prometheus  and 
Epimetheus,  for  the  cunning  and  revenge  of  Jupiter 
were  soon  apparent.  When  the  lid  was  removed,  out 
flew  a  swarm  of  strange,  stinging  insects. 

They  flew  wildly  about  stinging  sharply  the  faces, 
hands  and  heads  of  all  present.  And  the  odd,  sad 
part  of  it  was  that  every  sting  sank  deep  into  the 


144  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

heart  and  left  a  tiny,  bitter  seed — a  seed  which 
blossomed  and  bore  fruit:  seeds  of  ill  will,  envy, 
selfishness,  wrangling  and  discord,  and,  as  you  will 
suppose,  ill  health  and  all  manner  of  diseases 
followed. 

Dear  Pandora,  full  of  sorrow  and  dismay,  at  all 
the  trouble  she  had  brought  into  the  world,  looked 
with  sadness  into  the  box  which  had  caused  all  the 
misery,  when,  lo!  she  heard  the  sweetest,  dearest 
little  voice  that  she  had  ever  listened  to,  and,  looking 
more  carefully  into  the  box,  she  found  the  little 
humming  bird  of  Hope,  which  nestled  down  in  her 
bosom,  and  there  it  has  been  singing  ever  since. 

First  make  an  outline,  and  then  write  the  story. 

III. 

Just  as  Jupiter  had  planned,  the  seeds  of  grief  and 
sin  that  were  implanted  in  the  heart  of  humanity 
by  the  stinging  insects  grew  and  spread  into  such  a 
wilderness  of  discord  that  the  fire  of  life  was  nearly 
smothered. 

Poor  Prometheus  grew  desperate,  realizing  that  his 
beloved  people  must  die  if  the  spark  should  expire. 
He  knew  that  if  he  should  again  break  an  Olympian 
law,  death,  or  something  worse,  must  be  the  result. 
But  his  heart  was  so  completely  overwhelmed  with 


Written  Composition.  145 

the  sorrows  of  the  earth,  that,  regardless  of  the  dread 
consequences,  he  stole  up  to  heaven,  and  unobserved 
secured  a  new  supply  of  fire,  and  returned  to  earth. 
But  he  had  hardly  succeeded  in  reanimating  his 
perishing  people  with  this  new  life,  when  Jupiter  dis- 
covered his  treason,  and  his  anger  knew  no  bounds. 

He  ordered  Vulcan  to  descend  to  earth  and  take 
Prometheus  to  the  top  of  Mount  Caucasus  and  there 
chain  him  to  a  rock.  Here  he  was  to  remain  year 
after  year  exposed  to  heat  and  cold.  Not  content 
with  this,  Jupiter  sent  a  vulture  to  eat  his  flesh,  and 
made  it  impossible  for  Prometheus  to  die.  And  for 
hundreds  and  hundreds  of  years  Prometheus  re- 
mained chained  to  the  rock. 

Jupiter  endeavored  in  all  manner  of  ways  to  com- 
pel him  to  say  that  he  was  sorry  he  had  stolen  the  fire 
and  given  life  to  humanity — sorry  that  he  had  broken 
the  law  of  heaven.  But  Prometheus  would  never 
confess  to  being  sorry.  He  seemed  to  think  that 
such  a  bad  law  should  have  been  broken. 

Ages  and  ages  after,  Hercules  was  born,  and  he 
was  so  noble,  and  Jupiter  loved  and  trusted  him  so 
much,  that  he  was  able  to  intercede  and  make  peace 
between  Jupiter  and  Prometheus,  and  ever  since 
heaven  and  earth  have  seemed  more  closely  related. 


146  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

From  outline  write  the  story. 

What  do  you  think  of  the  punishment  of  Prometheus  ? 
Was  there  a  sufficient  reason  to  justify  his  breaking  a  law  ? 
Does  anything  justify  the  breaking  of  a  law  ? 
Is  it  better  to  do  wrong,  thinking  you  are  doing  right,  or  to 
do  right  with  the  wrong  feeling  in  your  heart  ? 

OUTLINES    FOR  COMPOSITION    WORK. 

Read  Longfellow's  poem  of  Hiawatha. 

HIAWATHA'S  CHILDHOOD. 
Introduction : 

The  author  and  the  poem  from  which  this  extract  is  taken. 
Body  : 

Nokomis. 

Her  fall  to  earth. 

The  birth  of  Wenonah. 

The  wooing  of  Mudjekeewis. 

The  birth  of  Hiawatha. 

The  death  of  Wenonah. 

Nokomis'  care  and  kindness  to  the  little  Hiawatha. 

Her  talks  with  him  of  the  Great  Bear  and  the  fireflies,  of 

the  birds,  and  beasts,  and  flowers. 
Hiawatha's   inquiries  about  the  moon,  and  about  all  of 

the  products  of  nature  which  he  sees  while  sitting  at 

the  door  of  the  wigwam,  or  swinging  in  his  cradle 

among  the  branches. 

Hiawatha's  first  hunt,  and  the  ridicule  of  the  squirrels. 
The  shooting  of  the  red  deer. 
Hiawatha's  exaltation. 
His  triumph  at  the  feast. 


Written  Composition.  147 

Conclusion  : 

Your  impression  of  the  story. 

Write  from  outlines  and  illustrate  by  drawings  other  stories 
from  Hiawatha.  When  the  story  is  finished,  write  it  as  a 
whole. 

THE   DANDELION. 

Introduction  : 

I,ongfellow's  manner  of  telling  the  story  of  the  dande- 
lion. 
Body  : 

Shawondasee. 

Where  he  dwelt. 

What  he  saw  one  day  while  looking  toward  the  north. 

The  appearance  of  the  maiden. 

How  he  proceeded  to  act. 

His  one  great  sorrow. 
Conclusion  : 

The  lesson  of  the  story. 

PIED  PIPER  OF  HAMEUN. 

Read  the  story  of  Browning's  "Pied  Piper,"  and  from  the 
outline  write  the  story,  and  illustrate  by  drawing  the  pictures. 
Introduction  : 

The  author  and  the  subject  of  his  story. 

Body  : 

The  town  infested  by  rats. 

The  mischief  they  did. 

The  people  gathered  in  council. 

The  Piper. 

His  appearance. 

The  Piper's  offer  and  the  Mayor's  promise. 


148  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

The  playing  of  the  Piper. 

The  result. 

What  happened  to  all  the  rats  but  one  ? 

The  old  rat's  story. 

How  the  Mayor  kept  his  promise. 

The  Piper  pipes  a  sweeter  note. 

How  the  children  answered  the  music. 

Where  the  Piper  led  the  children. 

The  opening  in  the  mountain. 

The  children  vanished  from  sight. 

Who  was  unable  to  enter  the  portal,  and  why  ? 

His  story. 

The  feeling  of  the  Mayor  and  the  people. 

Conclusion  : 

What  did  you  learn  from  the  story  ? 

THE  RELATION  OP  THE  PUPII,  TO  HIS  SCHOOL  AND  STATE 

Outline. 

Introduction  : 

The  purpose  of  the  public  school. 

Body: 

What  would  be  our  condition   if  it  were  not  for  our 
schools  ? 

The  public  school  the  Nation's  safeguard. 

The  poor  boy  has  the  same  opportunity  as  the  rich  boy. 

The  tax  the  individual  pays  compared  to  the  educational 

privileges  received. 
Generosity  of  the  State  in  its  liberal  appropriations. 


Written  Composition.  14.9 

f  Buildings. 
Expenses :  •<  Apparatus. 

(^  Superintendent  and  teachers, 
Attitude  of  .the  child  to  the  school 
Debt  of  gratitude. 
How  to  pay  it. 
Coming  to  school  with  earnest  purpose. 

f  A  proper  class  pride. 
How  to  make  the        |  Self-control, 
teacher's  work  lighter:  •{  Earnest  effort. 

I  Courtesy  in  school  and  out. 
L  Manliness. 
Conclusion : 

What  the  State  expects  of  us. 

L,oyalty  to  our  country  ;  an  intelligent  manhood  and  a 
good  citizenship. 


LIST  OF  FAVORITE  BOOKS. 


American  History,  Stories  for  Children , Wright 

At  the  Back  of  the  North  Wind George  McDonald 

A  Royal  Red  Coat Ruth  Ogden 

'Alice  in  Wonderland Lewis  Carroll 

An  Old  Fashioned  Girl Louisa  M.  Alcott 

Animals  That  I  Have  Known .  Ernest  Seton  Thompson 

A  Singular  Life E.  Stuart  Phelps 

Book  of  Golden  Deeds Charlotte  M.  Yonge 

Boys'  King  Arthur  .  T.  Mallory 

Brave  Little  Holland W.  E.  Griffis 

Birds'  Christmas  Carol K.  D.  Wiggin 

Boys  of  Other  Countries Bayard  Taylor 

Ben  Hur Lew  Wallace 

Betty  Alden J.  G.  Austin 

Boy  Life  in  the  U.  S.  Navy  .   .   .   .   , H.  H.  Clark 

Black  Beauty Anna  Sewell 

Beautiful  Joe Marshal  Saunders 

Being  a  Boy Chas.  Dudley  Warner 

Boots  and  Saddles Mrs.  Elizabeth  Custer 

Boyhood  in  Norway H.  H.  Boyeson 

Boyhood  of  Lincoln Butterworth 

Cadet  Days Capt.  C.  King 

Christmas  Stories Charles  Dickens 

Children's  Stories  of  American  Progress Wright 

Castle  Blair Shaw 

Captain  Courageous R.  Kipling 

Christmas  Wreck F.  K.  Stockton 

Colonel's  Opera  Cloak C.  C.  Brush 

Captain  January L.  E.  Richards 

Chaucer's  Stories Haweis 

Dog  of  Flanders La  Rame* 

David  Alden's  Daughter J.  G.  Austin 

Don  Quixote - Cervantes 

150 


List  of  Favorite  Books.  151 

Deer  Slayer J.  F.  Cooper 

David  Harum Edward  Westcott 

Donald  and  Dorothy M.  M.  Dodge 

David  Copperfield Charles  Dickens 

Egyptian  Princess Ebers 

Fair  God Lew  Wallace 

Five  Little  Peppers Sidney 

Gallegher R.  H.  Davis 

Greek  Heroes Charles  Kingsley 

Hannibal Abbott 

Hans  Brinker Mary  M.  Dodge 

Hildergarde's  Holiday L.  E.  Richards 

Hoosier  School  Master E.  Eggleston 

Happy  Boy Bjornson  Bjornstjerne 

Ivanhoe Walter  Scott 

Jack  the  Fisherman , E.  Stuart  Phelps 

Jack  Tier J.  F.  Cooper 

John  Halifax,— Gentleman D.  M.  Craig 

Jackanapes J.  H.  Ewing 

Janice  Meredith Ford 

King  of  the  Golden  River Ruskin 

King  Arthur D.  M.  Craig 

Lob-Lie-By-the-Fire J.  H.  Ewing 

Leather  Stocking  Tales J.  F.  Cooper 

Last  of  the  Mohicans J.  F.  Cooper 

Little  Lord  Fauntleroy F.  H.  Burnett 

Little  Saint  Elizabeth F.  H.  Burnett 

Little  Daughters  of  the  Revolution Nora  Perry 

Little  Men Louisa  Alcott 

Little  Women Louisa  Alcott 

Mr.  Rabbit J.  C.  Harris 

Miss  Tommy D.  M.  Craig 

Matka  and  Kotik David  Starr  Jordan 

Merry  Adventures  of  Robin  Hood H.  Pyle 

Melody L-  Richards 

Man-of-war  Life C.  Nordhoff 

Master  of  Ballantrae  .  .  R.  L.  Stevenson 


^52  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

My  New  England  Girlhood Lucy  Larcom 

Modern  Vikings , H.  H.  Boyesen 

Norse  Stories      H.  W.  Mabie 

Nature  Study Jackman 

Navy  Blue Willis  Boyd  Allen 

New  Arabian  Nights R.  L.  Stevenson 

Ninety-three Victor  Hugo 

Nurnberg  Stove La  Rame 

Old  Curiosity  Shop Dickens 

Otto  of  the  Silverhand Pyle 

Piccino F.  H.  Burnett 

Prince  and  Pauper S.  L.  Clemens 

Prince  and  Peasant H.  Martineau 

Polly  Oliver's  Problem K.  D.  Wiggin 

Pickwick  Papers Charles  Dickens 

Pendennis Thackeray 

Pioneer  Stories  of  the  Mississippi McMurry 

Personal  Recollections  of  Joan  of  Arc S.  L.  Clemens 

Pacific  History  Stories Harr  Wagner 

Queen  Hildergarde  . L.  E.  Richards 

Queen  Hildergarde's  Holiday L.  E.  Richards 

Robinson  Crusoe De  Foe 

Rab-and-His-Friends Brown 

Richard  Carvel E.  W.  Churchill 

Story  of  a  Short  Life J.  H.  Ewing 

Stories  for  Boys R.  H.  Davis 

Story  of  Sonny  Sabit S.  J.  Cote 

Stories  of  the  Wagner  Operas Guerber 

Sea  Lions J.  F.  Cooper 

Standish  of  Standish J.  G.  Austin 

Sentimental  Tommy J.  M.  Barrie 

Strange  Stories  from  History E.  Eggleston 

Sir  Francis  Drake Towle 

Sketch  Book W.  Irving 

Story  of  Patsy K.  D.  Wiggin 

Sara  Crew F.  H.  Burnett 

Sweet  William    .  .  M.  Bouvet 


List  of  Favorite  Books.  153 

Stories  of  Great  Men M.  S.  Pratt 

Stories  of  the  Golden  Age J.  Baldwin 

Story  of  Siegfried J.  Baldwin 

Stories  of  the  Old  World A.  J.  Church 

Story  of  a  Bad  Boy T.  B.  Aldrich 

Story  of  the  Arneid A.  J.  Church 

Stories  from  Herodotus A.  J.  Church 

Scottish  Chiefs Jane  Porter 

Two  Little  Pilgrims'  Progress F.  H.  Burnett 

The  Clocks  of  Rondaine  .    .  - F.  R.  Stockton 

Three  Greek  Children A.  J.  Fernald 

Tales  of  Discovery  on  Pacific  Slope Margaret  G.  Hood 

The  Jungle  Book  (Vols.  i  and  2) R.  Kipling 

The  Children's  Crusade G.  L.  Gray 

The  Wonder  Clock Howard  Pyle 

Two  Years  Before  the  Mast R.  H.  Dana 

Tales  of  the  Philippines R.  Van  Bergen 

Three  of  Us J.  C.  Harris 

The  Howadji  in  Syria G.  W.  Curtis 

Tales  Out  of  School F.  Stockton 

Ten  Boys  from  Long  Ago  to  Now Jane  Andrews 

The  Other  Wise  Man H.  Van  Dyke 

Timothy's  Quest K.  D.  Wiggin 

The  Spy J.  F.  Cooper 

Tom  Brown's  School  Days Thomas  Hughes 

Tale  of  Two  Cities Charles  Dickens 

The  Mill  on  the  Floss George  Eliot 

The  Man  Without  a  Country E.  E.  Hale 

The  Talisman Walter  Scott 

Toilers  of  the  Sea Victor  Hugo 

Undine Baron  Fouque 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin H.  B.  Stowe 

Unknown  to  History C.  M.  Yonge 

Window  in  Thrums James  Barrie 

With  Knight  and  Barbara  .    . David  Starr  Jordan 

Winning  His  Way Chas.  C.  Coffin 

Vasco  de  Gamo  .  Towle 


154  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

NATURE  STORIES. 

Birds  and  Bees Burroughs 

Sharp  Eyes Burroughs 

Wake-Robin Burroughs 

Parables  from  Nature • Gatty 

Pacific  Nature  Stories Harr  Wagner 

Fairyland  of  Science Buckley 

Life  and  Her  Children Buckley 

Stories  of  Our  Mother  Earth H.W.Fairbanks 

Winners  in  Life's  Race Buckley 

NAME  OF  POEMS  TO  BE  STUDIED  AND  MEMORIZED. 

(Most  of  these  can  be  found  in  the  Lincoln  Collection,  by  J.  P.  MCCASKEY.) 

*Abou  Ben  Adhem Leigh  Hunt 

Agassiz  on  His  Fiftieth  Birthday H.  W.  Longfellow 

Arrow  and  Song H.W.Longfellow 

Barefoot  Boy .   .   .  J.  G.  Whittier 

Blue  and  Gray,  The .    .  F.  M.  Finch 

Broken  Wing,  The • Anonymous 

Bright  Side,  The Anonymous 

Chambered  Nautilus  ....    • O.  W.  Holmes 

Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade Alfred  Tennyson 

Charge  of  the  Heavy  Brigade Alfred  Tennyson 

Crossing  the  Bar Alfred  Tennyson 

Children's  Hour,  The H.  W.  Longfellow 

^Daffodils,  The Wm.  Wordsworth 

Day  is  Done,  The H.  W.  Longfellow 

Driving  Home  the  Cows K.  P.  Osgood 

Defense  of  Lucknow,  The Alfred  Tennyson 

^Extracts  from  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal J.  R.  Lowell 

*Enid's  Song '.A.  Tennyson 

^Exploit  of  Hector Homer 

Fretting  Jennie Anonymous 

Forsaken  Merman,  The Matthew  Arnold 

Field  Lilies Anonymous 

Gain  of  Loss Horatius  Bonar 


List  of  Favorite  Books.  155 

Grandmothers Anonymous 

Grasshopper  and  Cricket Keats 

Heigh-Ho  !    Daisies  and  Buttercups Jean  Ingelow 

Heritage,  The J.  R.  Lowell 

*Horatius  at  the  Bridge T.  B.  Macaulay 

Hiawatha H.  W.  Longfellow 

Labor  is  Worship F.  S.  Osgood 

Last  Leaf,  The O.  W.  Holmes 

Little  Boy  Blue  , Eugene  Field 

*Lost,  Three  Little  Robins Anonymous 

*Love Shakespeare 

*Longing  .    .    . J.  R.  Lowell 

*Lady  of  Shalott Tennyson 

*My  Country  'Tis  of  Thee S.  F.  Smith 

Miles  Standish H.  W.  Longfellow 

*Nobility Alice  Cary 

*O  Captain,  My  Captain Walt  Whitman 

*Once  to  Every  Man  and  Nation J.  R.  Lowell 

Order  for  a  Picture :  Alice  Cary 

^Opportunity ,    B.   R.  Sill 

Over  the  Hill Geo.  Macdonald 

One  Hoss  Shay .    .    .    .  O.  W.  Holmes 

Peace  011  Earth J.  R.  Lowell 

Perseverance R.  S.  Andros 

Petrified  Fern,  The , M.  B.  Branch 

Pied  Piper  of  Hameliu Robert  Browning 

Plant  a  Tree Lucy  Larcom 

Planting  of  the  Apple  Tree W.  C.  Bryant 

*Polonius  to  Laertes Wm.  Shakespeare 

Psalm  of  Life H.  W.  Longfellow 

Raphael's  Picture  of  The  Madonna J.  G.  Whittier 

Relief  of  Lucknow Robert  Lowell 

*Rhcecus , J.  R.  Lowell 

*Ring  Out,  Wild  Bells  .  .« Alfred  Tennyson 

Robin's  Song,  The Anonymous 

*Recessional R.  Kipling 

Singers,  The H.  W.  Longfellow 


156  Lessons  in  Language   Work. 

Singing  Lesson,  The Jean  Ingelow 

Small  Beginnings Charles  Mackay 

Sweet  and  Low „   .   .   .  Alfred  Tennyson 

Song  of  the  Brook Alfred  Tennyson 

Seeing  Things  at  Night ,....„.      Eugene  Field 

*Sphinx J.  R.  Lowell 

*Self-Dependence Matthew  Arnold 

Take  Joy  Home Jean  Ingelow 

Tauler J.  G.  Whittier 

Teacher  o'  Dream W.  H.  Venable 

That's  Not  the  Way  at  Sea • F.  R.  Havergal 

They  Come  Not  Back  Again Anonymous 

The  Thrush Tennyson 

*To  a  Waterfowl W.  C.  Bryant 

*To  a  Skylark P.B.Shelley 

Trees  and  The  Master Sidney  Lanier 

The  Sandpiper Cecil  Thaxter 

Waiting  to  Grow Anonymous 

What  Constitutes  a  State Wm.  Jones 

Who  Stole  the  Bird's  Nest L.  Maria  Child 

Winstanley Jean  Ingelow 

Wind  A-blowing  All  Day  Long R.  L.  Stevenson 

'Especially  fine  for  seventh  and  eighth  grades. 


The  Western  Series  of  Readers 

EDITED   BY   HARR    WAGNER 

Designed  Especially  for  Supplementary  Work  in 

HISTORY  AND  NATURE  STUDY 

In  Our  Public  Schools 

All   Fully   and   Beautifully   Illustrated.       Each   Volume  Contains   from 
Eighteen  to  Twenty-Six   Full-Page   Pictures. 

EXTENSIVELY   ADOPTED   AND    USED   IN   THE   SCHOOLS   OF  THE   PACIFIC  COAST 


VOL.  I 

PACIFIC  HISTORY  STORIES 

By    HARR    WAGNER 

FOP  Fourth  and  Fifth  Grades 

During  the  short  time  that  this  book  has  been  on  the  market  its 
sale  has  been  phenomenal.  It  is  pronounced,  by  all  of  our  leading 
educators,  to  be  excellently  adapted  to  the  work  for  which  it  was 
intended— a  supplementary  reader  in  history  study  in  the  Fourth 
and  Fifth  Grades.  Fully  two  thirds  of  the  counties  in  California 
have  this  book  on  their  supplementary  and  library  list. 


VOL.  II 


PACIFIC  NATURE  STORIES 

By  HARR  WAGNER  and  DAVID  S.  JORDAN  and  others 

For  Fourth  and  Fifth  Grades 

A  companion  volume  to  the  above.  It  contains  some  eighteen  most 
interesting  and  instructive  sketches  of  our  Western  animal  and 
vegetable  life,  all  told  in  a  delightfully  flowing  style  and  written  by 
the  greatest  educators  of  the  West.  As  a  reading  book  in  nature 
study  it  cannot  be  excelled. 


VOL.  Ill 


NATURE  STORIES  OF  THE  NORTHWEST 

By  HERBERT  BASHFORD 

State  librarian  of  Washington 

For  Sixth  and  Seventh  Grades 

This  book  covers  a  more  extended  field  than  Volume  II,  and  is  not 
strictly  confined  to  the  Northwest.  Among  the  interesting  stories 
will  be  found  those  of  The  Black  Bear,  The  Kingfisher  >  The  Clam, 
The  Meadowlark,  The  Seals,  etc.,  all  of  which  are  of  interest  to  any 
pupil  in  the  West.  The  illustrations  are  works  of  art  and  true  to 
nature. 


VOL.  IV 

TALES  OF  DISCOVERY  ON  THE  PACIFIC  SLOPE 
By  MARGARET  GRAHAM  HOOD 

FOP  Third  and  Fourth  Grades 

The  Tale  of  History  could  not  be  more  charmingly  told  than  it  is  in 
this  volume,  which  is  intended  for  the  lower  grades.  A  Third  or 
Fourth  Grade  pupil  will  read  it  easily,  and  with  interest.  Its  eight 
chapters  are  devoted  to  the  early  history  of  our  great  Western 
empire,  and  tell  ofcharacters  and  events,  but  little  touched  upon  by 
the  general  school  history.  The  child  here  acquires  a  taste  that 
leads  him  to  further  research. 

VOL.  V 

TALES  OF  OUR  NEW  POSSESSIONS,  THE  PHILIPPINES 
Written  by  R.  VAN  BERGEN 

A  Thirty-Year  resident  of  the  Orient 
Author  of  "Story  of  Japan,"  Etc. 

Illustrated  by  P.  N.  BOERINGER 

War   Artist     Correspondent    at    Manila 
for  San  Francisco  Papers 

For  the  Sixth,  Seventh  and  Eighth  Grades 

A  timely  book  for  the  young.  We  employed  to  write  this  volume. 
a  man  whose  thirty-year  residence  in  the  Orient  made  him 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  people  and  their  customs.  Its  thirty- 
eight  chapters,  all  ichly  illustrated  by  the  best  artist  we  could  secure, 
will  give  the  pupil  an  excellent  idea  of  our  new  country — 
a  knowledge  which  will  prove  of  great  financial  value  to  him. 

VOL.  VI 

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By  HAROLD  W.  FAIRBANKS,  Ph.  D. 
Illustrated  by  MARY  H.  WELLMAN 

With  27  Full  Page  Illustrations.    An  Intensely  In- 
teresting and  Instructive  Work  on  Nature  Study 

For  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  Grades 

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Study  of  the  Kindergarten  Problem,  by  Fred'k  L.  Burk 50 

Orthoepy  and  Spelling,  by  John  W.Imes,  (4  parts  each) 20 

Toyon— A  book  of  Holiday  Selections,  by  Allie  M.  Felker 

Paper,  35c.    Board,  60c.    Cloth 100 

Supplement  to  State  History,  by  Harr  Wagner. 25 

Matka,  a  Tale  of  the  Mist  Islands,  by  David  Starr  Jordan 

(Schooled). 75 

Educational  Questions,  by  w.  c.  Doub 1  00 

Lessons  in  Language  Work,  by  Belle  Frazee Net  50 

WESTERN    SERIES   OF   PAPER   BOOKS 

No.  1.     Songs  Of  the  Soul,  by  Joaquin  Miller. 25 

No.  2.    Dr.  Jones' Picnic,  by  Dr.  S.E.  Chapman 25 

No.  3.    Modern  Argonaut,  by  Leela  B.  Davis 25 

No.  4.    How  to  Celebrate  Holiday  Occasions— Compiled 25 

No.  5.    Patriotic  Quotations 25 

WESTERN    LITERATURE  SERIES 
No.  1.    Readings  from  California  Poets,  by  Edmund  Russell 

Paper,25c.    Board 40 

WESTERN   SERIES  OF  BOOKLETS 

No.  1.    California  and  the  Californians,  by  David  Starr  Jordan  25 

No.  2.     Love  and  Law,  by  Thos.  P.  Bailey 25 

No.  3.    The  Man  Who  Might  Have  Been,  by  Robert  Whitaker  25 

No.  4.    Chants  for  the  Boer,  by  Joaquin  Miller 25 

No.  5.     Toil,  Poems  by  D.  F.  I,eary 25 

WESTERN    EDUCATIONAL   HELPS 

No.  1.    Civil  Government  Simplified,  by  j.j.Duvall 25 

No.  2.    An  Aid  in  the  Study  and  Teaching  of  Lady  of  the 

Lake,  Evangeline,  and  Merchant  of  Venice,  by  J. 

W.  Graham 25 

No*  3.    Grammar  by  the  Inductive  Method,  by  w.  C.  Doub..  25 


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